The Second Great Pony War
by Astral Wish
Summary: All the Elements of Disharmony have been found, but the dangers far from over. When a civil war led by a terrifying force of evil breaks out, Princess Twilight, Laurel Wreath, and their friends are forced life and death decisions that could either save Equestria, or doom it to destruction. (Sequel to Every Laurel Has It's Thorns)
1. The Summoning

"C'mon!" Twilight cried, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Princess Twilight Sparkle and her old and new friends huffed and puffed as they ran alongside her down Thunderhead Mountain, desperately trying to escape the angry dragon.

Princess Twilight and her friends had been on a quest with her new friend-and Princess Luna's pupil-Laurel Wreath, and her friends Scarlet Streak, Cupid's Arrow, Snowflake Swirl and Funny Bone and her special somepony Evergreen.

Over the weeks, they had been travelling to throughout Equestria, trying to locate the the sinister Elements of Disharmony before they caused massive damage like the Element of Dark Magic had in Ponyville.

Together, they'd managed to collect all the Elements but one. Applejack and Scarlet Streak-the spirits of Honesty-had worked together in Dodge Junction to defeat a warehouse operator and the ponies in his company who were under the influence of the Deceit element and were robbing ponies through scams.

In the Wet Hoof Forest, Snowflake Swirl and Fluttershy-who represented Kindness-collaborated to stop the forest-dwelling ponies from hurting the environment, the wildlife, and each other when they were being controlled by the Cruelty element.

Next, Twilight and her friends journeyed to Maneami, a city on the beach, where Rainbow Dash and Evergreen-the Loyalty spirits-defeated a pony who pretended to lead them to the Treachery element, but then trapped and nearly drowned them.

The gang then travelled to an Old Western town in the Sandy Tail Desert, where the Laughter spirits Pinkie Pie and Funny Bone had liberated a town of depressed ponies from the Disharmony element Misery.

Now, at last, their trial had taken them to the mountain to reclaim the Gluttony element from a dragon. But Rarity and Cupid's Arrow-the Spirits of Generosity-had only angered it, and the dragon was now chasing them down the mountain.

"This is all my fault!" Laurel cried, "If I'd known that dragons were capable of bearing Elements, I would've come up with a different strategy! I'm sorry, everypony!"

"Did that scroll you read say anything about it?" Applejack asked.

"Well, no, but-!" Laurel said.

"Then you couldn't have known! This ain't your faint." Applejack said.

Applejack and her friends turned a corner and stopped dead in their tracks as a huge boulder blocked their path.

"Oh, no! Dead end!" Evergreen cried.

"Maybe we could try moving it with our magic?" Laurel suggested.

"That would take too much time!" Twilight cried, "We're trapped…"

The dragon smirked as it approached them, and prepared to blow fire on them. Twilight cringed and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the inevitable.

Twilight then heard the dragon roar in pain. She felt heat on her face, but no burning sensation.

She dared to open her eyes, and was shocked to see that the dragon had gotten its tail pinned under a rock. And standing in front of Twilight was a lavender unicorn with a royal purple and teal mane, her horn glowing with magic.

"Starlight!" Twilight and her friends cried.

Starlight Glimmer turned, grinned, and said, "Looks like I got here in the knick of time!"

"Wait, I'm confused. You know this pony?" Laurel asked.

Starlight frowned at Laurel, confused, and asked Twilight, "Who the hoof is she?"

"I'll explain later! Right now, we need to get the necklace off the dragon! Starlight, Laurel, Rarity! Grab a boulder so we can pin down its legs!" Twilight said.

With some difficulty and intense concentration, the four unicorns managed to lift and drop rocks on the dragon's legs.

Cupid and Rarity charged in, putting their hooves on the necklace and channeling all the Generosity they had inside them into the element. The Gluttony element fell off, and Twilight grabbed and shoved it in her box with the other Elements of Disharmony.

The dragon looked around and asked, "What happened? Why am I stuck?"

"You were accidentally possessed by a very powerful dark magic and began chasing us down the mountain. We were forced to, uh, confine you with rocks. We're really, really sorry. We didn't mean you any harm. We just wanted to break the spell on you." Fluttershy explained.

The dragon roared and whimpered, "Hurts."

"We know. We're sorry. Just hold still and our friends will remove them so you can go home, okay?" Snowflake Swirl said.

The dragon nodded and Twilight, Laurel, Starlight, Snowflake, and Rarity removed the rocks on its tail and legs. The dragon stretched its legs and shook its tail and flew back to its cave on the summit.

Twilight and her friends sighed with relief and Rainbow Dash said, "Glad that's over with."

"Me too." Fluttershy mumbled.

"Me three!" Pinkie Pie cried.

"So...now that we're all together again…" Starlight said, "Can somepony please explain why you guys are on Thunderhead Mountain messing with a dragon, what the big deal with that necklace was, and who these new ponies are?"

Twilight grinned and said, "Starlight, these are our new friends-Evergreen, Scarlet Streak, Funny Bone, Cupid's Arrow, Snowflake Swirl, and Laurel Wreath. Guys, this is my pupil, Starlight Glimmer. She was in Canterlot for a week catching up with some other ponies and doing an errand for the princesses."

"So _that's_ why Princess Celestia said you couldn't train me! You already have a student!" Laurel Wreath said.

"Well, that and she's looking after somepony else, too. Her name's Sunset Shimmer. She lives...really far away." Starlight said.

"I'm actually studying to become a princess, too! I'm Princess Luna's pupil!" Laurel said.

" _Princess Luna?!_ " Starlight asked, "What exactly did I miss while I was gone?"

"It's a long story. I'll explain as we go down the mountain. Besides, we need to get to Canterlot immediately before these fall into the wrong hooves or claws again." Twilight said, motioning to the box with the Elements of Disharmony in it.

The rest of Twilight's friends said their agreements and Evergreen said, "Before we start heading down, is everypony okay? Does anypony have injuries I need to take a look at?"

Everypony said they were okay, and Twilight and her friends began their long descent down Thunderhead Mountain. True to Twilight's word, the ponies told Starlight all that had happened. Twilight explained what had happened the day she took the exam to get into The School for Gifted Unicorns and Laurel then recalled what had happened with her parents and at school once word got out about the disaster. Twilight told Starlight about how Laurel's transition to Ponyville and her friends had worked with Twilight to find a solution to help Laurel, as well as how Laurel became Midnight Eclipse and threatened to destroy Ponyville if Princess Twilight didn't give up her crown. Laurel talked about the battle she'd had against Twilight and her friends, and then how Laurel's friends had broken through to her. Twilight finished the tale by recalling how she and Laurel's friends had become the Elements of Harmony to defeat Midnight Eclipse, Luna accepting Twilight to be her pupil, and the quest they were on to find the Elements of Disharmony. Laurel then explained how the Elements of Disharmony worked, as well as The Great Pony War.

"Wow. So, there's a dark side to the Elements of Harmony? And there was a civil war in Equestria? And somehow you got ahold of one of the dark Elements?" Starlight asked.

Laurel nodded, her head bowed in shame.

"I still feel really guilty about it." Laurel said.

"I get that. I did something bad once, too. That's how Twilight and her friends got ahold of me. When that happens, you need to forgive yourself and move along. Yeah, you messed up big time, but hey, you've got a bright future now! We're in training to be princesses, and studying under two awesome alicorns. Our pasts don't define the ponies we are now." Starlight said.

"Thanks. Wait, you did something bad, too? What did you do?" Laurel asked.

"I-ah-well…" Starlight said, "I found a spell for removing Cutie Marks from ponies, so I manipulated an entire town into letting me take away their special talents because I told them I wanted to create 'a more equal society' for them. In reality, though, I just wanted power. Princess Twilight and her friends helped me see what I was doing was wrong, and they took me in."

Laurel Wreath and her friends stared at Starlight in shock.

"So, yeah." Starlight said to Laurel, "You're not the only one who committed a bad deed that ended up changing your life and winning the attention of a princess."

"That's good to hear." Laurel said, "I mean, not that you did something horrible, but that I'm not the only who messed up big time and is currently trying to lead a new life."

"Yeah." Starlight said, grinning.

Laurel was about to say something when Spike ran to meet them when they got to the mountain's base.

"Twilight! You might want to read these!" Spike said, holding up a letter with the royal seal on them.

Twilight took the letter from Spike and began to read it out loud.

 _Our dearest Twilight,_

 _We are afraid that you all must abandon your quest and come to Canterlot immediately. A strange magical phenomenon has developed over the city, and we are feeling the presence of a magical energy that we have never felt before. We fear that somepony or something powerful is lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike when we least expect it. Please report to Canterlot with your friends, your pupil, and Laurel Wreath and her friends._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Princesses Celestia and Luna_

"Strange magical phenomenon?" Laurel repeated.

"New magical energy?" Starlight asked.

"Something powerful lurking in the shadows?" Fluttershy asked, trembling.

"What does all that mean?" Scarlet asked.

"There's only one way to find out," Twilight said, "We're going to go there and find out ourselves."

"But Canterlot's four hours away from here!" Cupid said, "By the time we get there, it'll be night! Or close to it!"

"We don't have a choice! The princesses personally summoned us to Canterlot! If whatever's going on in Canterlot is so bad that the princesses are calling to Canterlot to help them, then we can't just leave them! Equestria needs us!" Evergreen said.

The rest of the gang nodded and charged towards the train station with Spike riding on Twilight's back, anxious and excited for their new adventure.

"Where in Equestria is the stupid train! We've been waiting here forever!" Scarlet complained, pacing back and forth.

"Oh, Scarlet, it's only been an hour!" Snowflake said.

Rainbow Dash huffed and said, "An hour too long in my opinion. I'm pooped. I want to sleep on the train, but for all we know it could be in Dodge Junction!"

"Hear, hear!" Rarity cried, "My hooves are killing me from being forced to walk on so many rocks! I need my beauty sleep!"

" _Thank you!_ " Scarlet Streak said, high-fiving Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

"Everypony, please. I know it's been a long day, and we're all tired, but we need to be patient. We'll have plenty of time to sleep once the train arrives. Hopefully it won't be too much longer." Twilight said.

"Uh, Laurel? You okay. Sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Twilight turned and noticed that Laurel Wreath was anxiously pacing up and down the platform in front of some of the benches facing the tracks.

"No!" Laurel cried, "I can't stop thinking about what Evergreen said. If whatever's happening in Canterlot is so bad that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna need us in there as soon as possible, then every second we're wasting sitting here waiting for the train to arrive could be one more second until Canterlot's destroyed, and Equestria falls. The train might not even make it here for hours since so few ponies live here! Not to mention, Canterlot used to be my home. My old classmates still laugh at me over the failed exam and my parents still shame me for it. If I go back there, I'll be a laughing stock and a disgrace!"

Twilight put her hoof on Laurel's shoulder and said, "It's going to okay, Laurel. To be honest, I'm worried about the situation in Canterlot, too. But we can't let it freak us out. I used to obsessively worry about things all the time, too, even things that were beyond my control. And led to me getting into all kinds of trouble, didn't girls?"

"Uh-huh." Twilight's friends said.

"My point is, Laurel, if you let that fear get to your head, it'll only make you more anxious, and that anxiety will cause you to make bad decisions that you'll end up regretting. Just take some deep breaths and try not to stress out, okay?" Twilight asked.

"B-but what about my parents and those mean ponies from school?" Laurel asked.

"That's what you have us for. We'll protect you. We won't let anyone hurt you, Laurel." Starlight said.

The rest of the ponies agreed and promised they'd defend her.

"But you just met me, " Laurel said, turning to Starlight.

"And you all barely know me." Laurel finished, turning to Twilight and her friends.

"You're right, we don't know you all that well. But we've seen enough to know that you're a wonderful pony who's kind, smart, brave, loyal, and has a really bright future ahead of her. We see a pony who's destined to do great things with her life, and become a great friend of ours, but needs work on her confidence after being knocked down for so long." Twilight said.

"And besides," Starlight said, "I trust Princess Twilight and her friends' judgement. If they trust you, then I trust you."

Laurel grinned from ear-to-ear and said, "Thanks, everypony."

Twilight was about to say something when she was blinded by a bright light and interrupted by a horn.

Twilight, Laurel, and their friends cheered as the train pulled up to the station.

As soon as the doors opened, they all stampeded into the sleeping car and began calling bunks.

Twilight waited until all of her friends were quiet, and yawned, stretched, and was out like a light.

"Twilight," a voice, whispered.

Twilight groaned as she felt a poking sensation on her side, "Go away…"

"But, Twilight, this is urgent!" the voice whispered shakily.

"Is it some kind of emergency…?" Twilight asked.

"W-well, no, but-!" the voice said.

"Then it can wait until morning." Twilight said, "Go to sleep."

"But this is urgent!" the voice cried.

"If it's not an emergency, then it can wait! Go away!" Twilight said.

The voice huffed and said, "Then I guess I have no choice."

The insides of Twilight's eyelids were suddenly lit up, and Twilight opened her eyes to see a white light coming from a horn that was bright, it shone throughout the cabin. The rest of Twilight's friends groaned and cried out as they were woken up, too.

Twilight shone a light in the pony's face, and Laurel Wreath's terrified face was reflected back at her.

"Laurel Wreath! What's so important that you had to wake us up at the crack of dawn for?" Twilight snapped.

"Y-you mean you don't feel it?" Laurel asked.

"Feel what?" Twilight asked.

"That weird energy." Laurel said.

"What energy?" Twilight asked.

As soon as Twilight got out of her bed, she felt what Laurel was talking about. There was a strange vibration in the air that was travelling through Twilight from her horn to her hooves. Whatever the vibration was, it was making her feel chills, darkness, and irrational fear that made her heart pound against her chest.

"I…" I mumbled, shuddering, "I feel it now."

"Feel what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Y-you don't feel that vibration?" Starlight asked, trembling.

"You mean the train moving? Yeah, we feel that. Why?" Cupid asked.

"M-maybe only unicorns c-can feel it b-because of our magic." Snowflake said, looking worried.

"That's not the only thing I wanted to show you." Laurel said, "You know how the princesses said in their letter that there was a strange magical phenomenon in Canterlot?"

"Yeah?" Evergreen asked, sounding nervous.

"Come with me." Laurel said, walking out of the sleeping car.

Twilight and her friends followed Laurel into the passenger car, and gasped as they saw what was out the windows. Twilight felt her legs tremble and mouth open with shock.

Somehow, impossibly, all of the sky around Canterlot had turned blood red and been covered with pitch black clouds.


	2. Pulsations

"What in Equestria happened?!" Starlight asked.

"It looks like a scene from a horror movie!" Funny Bone cried.

"Do you think the princesses are okay?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Everypony, please, calm down!" Twilight said.

" _Calm down?!_ Twilight, do you not see what's out the window?! What if Canterlot's been destroyed?!" Laurel said, "As if the idea of running into my parents or my old classmates wasn't bad enough!"

"Not to mention that strange vibration that only us unicorns can feel because of our magic!" Evergreen said.

"Everypony, please! I know that this looks frightening, but we need to stay hopeful! Whatever this issue is, we'll be able to fix it! Remember all we've been through! We defeated Nightmare Moon and freed Princess Luna, stopped Discord's chaos and reformed him, defeated Chrysalis and her Changeling army when they invaded Canterlot at Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding, prevented Sombra from destroying the Crystal Heart and enslaving the Crystal Empire, reformed Starlight Glimmer, Laurel Wreath, and Tempest Shadow, depowered Tirek, and stopped all kinds of other threats! If we can make it this far, we can solve this problem, too!" Twilight said.

Twilight's friends looked reassured, but Laurel was frowning out the window.

"Laurel?" Snowflake Swirl asked, "You okay?"

"I wonder…" she mumbled,

Laurel turned to the rest of the group, and started a spell with her horn. The ground under each of the ponies glowed golden.

"Laurel, what are you doing?" Twilight asked.

"I know a teleportation spell that's more long range than the standard teleportation spell. I'm going to see if I can teleport us all to Princess Celestia's castle." Laurel said, concentrating.

"H-have you done this before?" Starlight asked.

"No." Laurel admitted, "But I think now's a good a time as any to try!"

There a bright flash of golden light, and when Twilight blinked, she was standing inside the main entrance to Princess Celestia's castle.

Laurel cheered and said, "Alright, it worked!"

"HALT!" The Royal Guard cried, lowering their spears around the group.

"Looks like your spell worked a little _too_ well!" Scarlet mumbled to Laurel.

The guards parted to let a red unicorn stallion with a black mane and military medal Cutie Mark step through.

"Who are you?" he barked, "State your business."

Twilight stepped forward and spread her wings.

"I am Princess Twilight, Princess of Friendship. My friends and I were summoned here under the request of Princesses Celestia and Luna." Twilight said.

"Why did you choose to enter this way rather than through the main gate?" the stallion asked.

"We recognized the need to arrive in Canterlot quickly to address this issue, so my friend Laurel Wreath teleported us here in hopes that we could solve it faster." Princess Twilight said.

The red stallion nodded, and said to the guards, "Stand down."

The guards retracted their spears, and the red stallion bowed and removed his helmet.

"My sincerest apologies, your Highness." he said.

"You're forgiven. Now, would you please escort us to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" Twilight asked.

"Of course, your Highness. Please, follow me." the stallion said, leading the way.

"So, uh, do you guys know why the sky's red, Sir…?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Honor Medallion." the unicorn said, "My name is Second Lieutenant Honor Medallion, fourth in command of the Royal Guard. And to answer your question, miss, I'm afraid we don't know. Our researchers are looking into it, but we're almost certain it has something to do with the new magical energy that's surrounding the city."

"Have the princesses done anything?" Laurel asked.

Honor Medallion nodded and said, "The princesses have set the castle under high alert, which is why there are guards stationed everywhere. They've also put up a dome around the city to prevent anything hostile from entering, and sending guards to patrol the streets to report anything suspicious."

"Well, clearly the domes aren't working because I can still feel the vibration." Laurel said.

"The dome is to keep out outside hostile threats, miss. I'm afraid that until we find the source of the vibration, we can't do anything about it." Honor Medallion said as they approached the throne room.

The sound of a foal wailing echoed through the throne room as Honor Medallion knocked on the door.

"Come in," Princess Celestia called, her voice strained.

Honor Medallion opened the door to a bleary-eyed Princess Celestia with dark rings around her eyes sitting on her throne looking worried. Princess Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor were also present, looking just as exhausted and anxious as Celestia. Flurry Heart was crying in her mother Cadence's arms, while she and her father Shining Armor were trying to calm her.

Honor Medallion bowed to Princess Celestia and said, "Your Highness, Princess Twilight and her companions have arrived to assist with the situation."

"Excellent. Thank you, Second Lieutenant. You may return to your duties." Princess Celestia said.

Honor Medallion bowed again and left. Princess Celestia wearily rose to her feet to join Twilight and her friends.

"Did you succeed in collecting all of the Elements of Disharmony?" she asked.

"Yep!" Twilight said, proudly holding up the box with the Elements inside.

"Wonderful. Well done, all of you." Princess Celestia said, taking the box from her.

"Thank you, Princess." Twilight and her friends said.

"Wait, did I hear that right? What are the Elements of _Disharmony_?" Cadence asked.

"Come with me, Cadence. I'll explain while I lock these away." Luna said, taking the box from her sister.

"Okay. Shining, can you take Flurry for me?" Cadence said, handing him their child.

"Sure." he said, trying to coax Flurry Heart.

"Thanks." Cadence said, as she went off to join Luna.

"Princess Celestia, what's going on?" Twilight asked, "Why is the sky red, what's with weird vibration, and why do you look so worn out?"

"Too be honest, Twilight, we're still not entirely sure. What we do know is that something dark has penetrated the natural magical energy that's surrounding Canterlot, the energy that allows unicorns to call upon and wield magic, allows for our world to function properly, and provides for all life. And this darkness is feeding off the power of the energy, using it as fuel to spread and grow stronger everyday. We don't know who's causing this, why they're doing it, and what the source of this darkness is, but if this continues to spread, Equestria consumed by this darkness and ultimately destroyed." Princess Celestia said.

"D...destroyed?" Laurel whispered hoarsely.

Princess Celestia nodded, and said, "This is also why we asked you to collect the Elements of Disharmony before they fell into the wrong ponies' hooves. We noticed that the day the Element of Dark Magic appeared in Ponyville was the same day that we felt the darkness stirring. We fear that their may be a connection."

"Why didn't you summon us sooner, then, if it's that bad?!" Scarlet cried.

"We needed the Elements of Disharmony first. If we had to face this darkness as well as ponies under the influence of the Elements, that would've expanded too much energy, and weakened our defenses. We needed you all to finish your quest before-!"

Princess Celestia was cut off when a brilliant flash of blood red light shone through the room and the ground started vibrating.

"Is it about to happen?!" Princess Celestia asked.

"Looks like it! Brace yourselves!" Shining Armor called.

"For what?! What's going on?!" Twilight cried.

A powerful pulsing rocked through the room, and Twilight felt her fear levels skyrocket as she saw visions of Ponyville burning to ashes, her friends and family bleeding to death or dead, her subjects in revolt against her, calling for her head.

Twilight felt herself screaming, and could faintly hear her friends screaming in the background too as she imagined they were seeing their worst fears. Twilight felt one final, huge pulse that knocked her off her feet, and then the castle was still and her vision cleared.

Twilight looked around to see Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Funny Bone on the ground shaking and holding themselves, Laurel, Rarity, Scarlet, Starlight, and Cupid weeping, and Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Shining Armor, and Evergreen sitting on the floor looking shell-shocked. Princess Celestia didn't seem phased, and Flurry Heart looked no worse than she had before the incident.

"What in Equestria was that?" Twilight asked weakly.

"We call it a Pulsing." Princess Celestia explained,"Twice a day, the darkness levels spike, and they create a pulsing sensation that makes all ponies see visions of their greatest fears."

"T-twice a day?" Laurel asked, "W-was that the f-first Pulsing or the s-second?"

"The first. It seems that Pulsing occur daily at dawn and dusk. Although, we are starting to feel smaller Pulses at midnight." Princess Celestia said.

"So it's following the moon's path." Evergreen said.

"What do you mean?" Shining Armor asked, joining the group.

"You said the Pulsations are occurring at sunrise, sunset, and midnight, right? That's when the moon rises, when the moon reaches its highest point, and when it sets." Evergreen said.

"Dark entities do favor the night the most because of how all the darkness, so that makes sense that they'd do that." Laurel said.

"Wait, I'm sorry. Who are you all? I don't remember meeting you." Shining Armor said to Laurel and her friends.

"Shining Armor, do you remember that letter I sent you and Cadence asking for advice with a difficult pony?" Twilight asked.

"This is her?" Shining Armor said, frowning.

"Yeah. This is Laurel Wreath. We've reformed her, and now she's studying under Princess Luna. And these are her friends Evergreen, Funny Bone, Snowflake Swirl, Scarlet Streak, and Cupid's Arrow. Guys, this is my big brother Shining Armor and my niece, Flurry Heart."

"Nice to meet you. You have a cute filly." Laurel said.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, too. Congratulations on being chosen to be Princess Luna's first ever student. That must be a huge honor." Shining Armor said.

"It is." Laurel said.

Cadence and Luna suddenly came dashing in, looking alarmed.

"Where's Flurry?!" Cadence asked, "Is she okay?!"

"She's right here." Shining Armor said.

"Did the Pulsations get to her?" Cadence asked.

"No. I protected her." Shining Armor said.

Cadence sighed and said, "Thank goodness."

"The Disharmony Elements have been safely locked away, sister." Luna reported.

"Wonderful," Celestia said, "Thank you, Luna."

Celestia turned to everyone else and said, "You all must be exhausted from your stress and long journey here. Please, go to the guest rooms and get some sleep. We'll strategize when all of you are well rested."

"But, Princess Celestia-!" Twilight cried.

"I'm well aware of how dire the situation is, Twilight. But I believe that we will be able to come out with an effective counter attack much more easily with minds that aren't weary from exhaustion and lack of sleep." Princess Celestia said.

Twilight nodded and everyone except Princess Celestia and Luna and Shining Armor made their way to the guest rooms.

"Aren't you coming, honey?" Cadence asked.

Shining Armor shook his head and said, "I need to talk to Honor Medallion and Silver Storm. I'll be with you when we finish."

Cadence nodded and left with the other ponies to go to sleep.

"What is troubling you, sister?" Luna asked Celestia.

"Something just occurred to me." Celestia said darkly, "The Elements of Disharmony have returned, and now there's powerful dark magic surrounding Canterlot. I'm beginning to wonder if...he has returned. If he is responsible for this."

Luna's face went pale, and she said, "But if it is him, we will have to prepare for war! Think of what that could do to our subjects!"

"I'm well aware of that, sister." Celestia said, "But if he has returned, we won't have a choice. If we don't fight, he'll destroy us all. I just hope we're ready…"


	3. Silver Storm

Chapter 3-Silver Storm

Snowflake Swirl screamed, crying for help as she tried in vain to escape the burning building.

All the doors and been blocked by burned wreckage from the roof, there was no windows where she was, and for some reason, her magic wasn't working.

The smoke filled Snowflake's lungs, and she knew it was only a matter of time before she suffocated, assuming the roof didn't collapse on her or the fire didn't destroy her first.

Where were Laurel and the rest of her friends? They had just been with her. Did they not notice she was missing? Or did they abandon her?

Snowflake turned and realized that the fire was starting to burn her. She tried to scream, but the smoke strangled her, making no sound come out.

Her eyes suddenly shot wide open, and she sat up in her bed, shaking, sweating, and panting. Snowflake looked around desperately, trying to remember where she was.

 _Princess Celestia's castle,_ she reminded herself, _I'm staying as a guest so we can fix the stupid vibrations._

Heart pounding, Snowflake tried to go back to sleep, but the nightmares she'd witnessed still haunted her mind, making it impossible.

At last she sighed and thought, _I should go into the garden for a bit. That'll help calm me._

Snowflake got up, stretched, and quietly walked out of her bedroom, trying to find the royal garden.

After turning so many times she lost count, Snowflake found a large set of doors that looked like they led outside. She opened them, and was greeted a cool gust of night wind.

Snowflake Swirl sighed and began walking through the garden, taking deep breaths to calm herself and she focused on the beautiful stars and the exotic plants and trees that lived in the garden.

 _It really is a lovely night out,_ she thought, _It must be nice living in a beautiful castle with a garden like this. But where are all the animals? Maybe the vibrations are scaring them, too._

Snowflake Swirl walked serenely through the garden, taking in the peaceful sounds of the garden at night and smelling the sweet scented flowers. And for the first time since she got here, Snowflake felt completely at peace.

After about an hour exploring the garden, Snowflake Swirl started to feel drowsy. She looked up at the stars one last time and smiled, silently thanking them for a moment of peace.

Snowflake Swirl yawned and went back indoors, only to discover with a shock that the corridors to her left and right looked completely similar. She couldn't remember the direction from where she came.

 _Oh, no!_ Snowflake thought, _Which way am I supposed to go?_

After a minute of debating, Snowflake decided to go right. She walked down the corridor, taking in the beautiful paintings and tapestries, only to discover that the corridor ahead of her split three ways.

 _Argh!_ Snowflake thought, _Why couldn't the princesses have hung signs that point where everything is?!_

Snowflake Swirl took a left, only to discover that the new hallway was filled with double doors to her left and right. She peeked her head into each one, trying to find another passage that would take her back to her room, until a bright light shined in her face, and voice cried,

"HEY! What are doing in there! Stop!"

Snowflake Swirl flinched and yelped as she heard hooves running toward her.

Snowflake started trembling when the pony came near. She couldn't see much of him, but he had the armor of Royal Guard on him, and his two front legs, which were a light shade of gray.

"Who are you?" the voice asked, "What are you doing?!"

"M-my name's S-Snowflake Swirl, sir. I'm s-staying here at the castle as Princess C-Celestia's and Luna's guest. I...I was having nightmares, so I went into the garden for some peace of m-mind and I got l-lost." Snowflake said, trembling.

"Oh, are you one of the ponies the princesses invited to stay in Canterlot to help fix the dark magic issue that we're facing?" the stallion asked.

"Y-yes, sir." Snowflake said.

The guard member turned the flashlight on his helmet off and said, "I'm so sorry, miss. Our captain asked us to be on high alert until this issue gets resolved, and I mistook you for an intruder."

"It's okay. Would, um, you mind taking me to the guest quarters, please?" Snowflake asked.

"I'd be glad too! Please, follow me." the stallion said, turning to lead her.

"Thank you, sir," Snowflake said, following him.

The stallion laughed and said, "There's no need to call me sir. I'm not that old. I'm actually younger than Captain Shining Armor."

"Really?" Snowflake asked.

"Yeah. But I don't really mind. The princesses and the captain trust me, and that's what matters most to me." the stallion said.

"That's good." Snowflake Swirl said.

The stallion nodded and said, "So, I think I heard you say that your name's Snowflake Swirl?"

"Yeah." Snowflake said.

"That's a beautiful name. What's your special talent?" the stallion asked.

Snowflake Swirl blushed and said, "Oh, um, thanks. I specialize in ice dance and ice magic."

"Oh, I love watching ice dance competitions here! All the costumes are gorgeous, the music's great, and the dancing is just...incredible. You're lucky to have such an awesome talent!" the stallion said excitedly.

Snowflake's face went redder, and she said, "T-thanks. I'm surprised you know what ice dance is. Not many ponies do."

"Well, the National Young Ice Dancer's Competition and the National Master's Ice Dance Cup happen here every year. I'd have to be an idiot not to know." the stallion said.

"Yeah." Snowflake said, her heart pounding.

"And you said your other talent is ice magic?" the stallion said.

Snowflake Swirl nodded and the stallion said, "Well, then, you must be really good at making snow ponies!"

Snowflake Swirl started laughing, and she heard the stallion laughing with her, too.

Her laughter was cut off when she saw his face in the moonlight. The stallion had a young, handsomely rugged face with a shiny gray mane that gleamed like silver, and a sapphire blue eyes.

Snowflake felt her jaw drop, and the stallion frowned and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"N-no. It's just...you're so...beautiful." Snowflake mumbled, face cherry red.

The stallion's face turned pink and he said, "Wow. Uh, thanks. That's...that's the first time a pony's ever called me that. You're really pretty, too."

"Thank you." Snowflake said, her heart feeling like it was going to burst.

"Um, is it difficult being a pegasus in the royal guard?" Snowflake asked.

The stallion shrugged and said, "It has it's ups and downs. I can't use magic to defend the kingdom, which stinks sometimes, but I'm faster and I can fight airborne enemies as well as enemies on land, so that's a huge bonus. Besides, the point of the Royal Guard is to work together as a team to defend Equestria from threats and cover each other's weak points, not compete for glory. If we did that, Equestria would've fallen a long time ago."

"That's a very good point." Snowflake said.

"Looks like we're here. Do you remember which room's yours?" the stallion asked.

"Yes, this looks familiar now. Thank you so much." Snowflake said.

"My pleasure, Miss Snowflake Swirl." the stallion said, "Good night. Sleep well."

"Thanks. You, too." Snowflake said, walking into her bedroom.

Suddenly, Snowflake realized she'd forgotten something important-the stallion's name.

Snowflake peeked her head out of her bedroom to look for him, but he was gone.

 _Well, he's a Royal Guard,_ Snowflake thought, _I'll find him in the morning._

Snowflake yawned and stretched and went to bed. And this time, she slept through the night without any nightmares.

Snowflake Swirl was startled out of her dream by someone pounding on the door.

"Snowflake," Laurel called, sounding tired, "Get up. The princesses are expecting us in the meeting room."

Snowflake hopped out of her bed, desperate to find her mystery stallion. But when she opened the door, she was greeted by a bleary-eyed Laurel with dark rings under her eyes.

Snowflake looked past Laurel and saw that Rarity, Twilight, Starlight, and Evergreen all looked just as bad as Laurel, but the rest of their friends looked fine.

"Did the vibrations give you nightmares?" Snowflake asked her friends.

Her unicorn friends nodded and agreed, but her earth pony and pegasus friends said no.

"Wait, Snowflake, you're a unicorn, but you look fine. Did the vibrations somehow not affect you?" Twilight asked.

Snowflake's face turned red as she recalled the stallion she met last night and said, "N-no, no. They did, I just...I went for a walk in the garden, and that calmed me down enough that the vibrations didn't affect me anymore."

"Are you okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, "Your face is starting to turn as red as an apple."

"Applejack, can't you see she's blushing?" Rarity asked.

"Alright, Snowflake, spill. Did something happen last night?" Laurel asked.

Snowflake blushed harder and said, "It's nothing, really."

"Oh, really?" Cupid's Arrow said, turning Snowflake's face toward her.

She analyzed her face for a few seconds, and then her eyes went wide and she dropped it.

"Snowflake, shut up!" Cupid cried.

"What? What is it?" Twilight asked.

"She met a stallion last night, and she's in love with him!" Cupid exclaimed as Snowflake's face turned redder.

"What? How?" Starlight asked.

"I'll explain as we go to the meeting. C'mon. The princesses need us." Snowflake said, walking away.

Twilight and her friends nodded and followed her, insisting she tell the story. Eventually, Snowflake gave in and told them how she'd went into the garden last night, the tranquility that had filled her and calmed her mind, and then how she'd ended up getting lost trying to find her way back to her room. She explained how she'd gotten caught by a Royal Guard, who escorted her back to her room, and the conversation they'd had.

"Snowflake, that's awesome! You're so lucky!" Starlight said.

"I just can't believe you forgot to ask his name!" Scarlet said, facepalming, "I mean, you met somepony, you fell in love with him, and you forgot to find out what his name is?!"

"Well, he's a member of the Royal Guard, so I imagine he's around here somewhere. We'll meet again. It's not like he's going to disappear after one night." Snowflake said.

"Looks like we're here, girls." Twilight said, taking a seat.

"Excuse me?" Evergreen and Funny Bone said as they sat.

"Everypony, is what I meant to say. Sorry." Twilight said.

"Hey, Twilight, where's Spike?" Laurel asked.

"In my room." Twilight said, "I figured that since the princesses didn't tell him to come, I'd let him sleep."

"Lucky. I wish I could sleep more." Starlight said, yawning.

"I just hope we get breakfast during the meeting. I'm starving." Rainbow Dash moaned.

"Good morning, everypony." Princess Celestia said as she entered the room, followed closely by Luna, Cadence, and Discord.

Laurel made a strangled sound and then Discord started floating and glowing with gold magic.

"HOW DARE YOU COME HERE! I BET YOU'RE THE ONE DOING THIS, AREN'T YOU?! GET OUT OR I SWEAR I'LL-!" Laurel cried.

"Laurel, stop!" Twilight cried.

"Twilight, don't you know who this is?!" Laurel barked.

"Yes, I do. This is Discord, king of chaos. But it's okay. We reformed him. He's on our side now." Twilight said.

Laurel frowned and said, "You're sure?"

Twilight nodded and said, "Positive."

Laurel glared distrustfully at Discord, and then released him and sat back down.

"My goodness. You sure have interesting friends, Princess Twilight." Discord noted.

"I know. Discord, this is Laurel Wreath, Snowflake Swirl, Funny Bone, Evergreen, and Scarlet Streak. Everypony, this is Discord." Twilight said.

"Hello, everyone." Discord said, making a hat appear out of nowhere, and then taking it off and bowing.

Laurel and her friends all looked uncomfortable, but said hello to him.

"Snowflake Swirl, is it?" Luna asked. 

"Yes, Princess?" Snowflake asked.

"Are you well? Your face looks awfully red." Luna said.

"Yes, Your Highness, I just...I…" Snowflake said, her face turning redder.

"She met a stallion last night and now she's in loooooove." Funny Bone teased.

"Oh, that's wonderful! What's his name?" Cadence asked.

"I don't know. I forgot to ask last night. He's a member of The Royal Guard, so I was thinking that maybe one of you princesses know him?" Snowflake asked.

"We'll try. What did he look like?" Celestia asked.

"H-he was a pegasus with a, uh, gray coat…" Snowflake Swirl said.

"Well that clears it up a lot. A quarter of the Canterlot Royal Guard are gray pegasi." Rainbow Dash complained.

"Rainbow, don't be so insensitive!" Applejack cried.

"His-his coat was a lighter shade of gray. And he was young. Younger than Shining Armor." Snowflake said.

"Was he a crystal pony?" Celestia asked.

"No. But his made was really shiny." Snowflake said.

Cadence grinned and asked, "Did this stallion's mane gleam look like real liquid silver?"

Snowflake nodded and said, "Prettiest mane I've ever seen."

"And were his eyes a deep shade of blue?" Luna asked, smirking.

"Gorgeous." Snowflake agreed.

"Well then, Snowflake, it sounds like you met Silver Storm." Cadence said.

"Silver Storm?" Laurel asked.

"That's First Lieutenant Silver Storm. Captain Shining Armor's second in command. And you're right, he is younger than the Captain. He's about your age, as a matter of fact." Luna said.

"Wow. You got really lucky, Snowflake. You met the Captain's second in command!" Scarlet said jealously.

There was a knock on the door, and then Shining Armor entered, accompanied by Honor Medallion and a silver pegasus.

All three ponies removed their helmets and bowed to Princess Celestia.

"My apologies for our tardiness, your Highness. We had a pressing issue that needed to be addressed." Shining Armor said.

"That's fine. Please take a seat, gentlecolts." Princess Celestia said.

Shining Armor nodded and took a seat next to Cadence, while Honor Medallion took a seat at the end of the table, and the silver pegasus sat next to Snowflake.

Snowflake Swirl blushed and turned away while the pegasus looked at her with confusion, followed by shock.

"Oh! Miss, are you that pony I met last night?" the pegasus asked.

"Yes." Snowflake said, turning to face him.

"I thought so. I owe you an apology." the pegasus said.

"For what?" Snowflake asked.

"Not introducing myself last night. It completely slipped my mind. I'm Silver Storm, First Lieutenant of the Royal Guard. And your name's...wait…"

Silver Storm trailed off, trying to think.

"Can you remind of your name again? I'm sorry, I'm bad at names." Silver Storm said.

"It's fine. My name's Snowflake Swirl." Snowflake said.

"Oh, right. I thought it had something to do with snow. I was going to guess Snowy Day or something like that, but it didn't sound right." Silver Storm said.

Snowflake blushed and said, "I-it's fine, really."

Princess Celestia cleared her throat and said, "Now that everyone's here and we're all acquainted with each other, can we officially start this meeting?"

All the ponies nodded and sat up straight, ready to face whatever happened next.

 _I hope we can find an answer before disaster strikes,_ Twilight thought.


	4. Prepare for War

Chapter 4-Prepare For War

"Before we begin talking strategy, my sister and I have come to an agreement that we need to share the story of the Great Pony War. Laurel, since you're familiar with the subject, would you care to share what you know?" Celestia asked.

Laurel's face fell and she said, "Uh, well…"

She took a deep breath and said, "I don't remember the entire story but I'll tell what I do know. There was a unicorn - a very powerful unicorn, I should say - who created the Elements of Disharmony to create balance between the dark and light of Equestria's magic. In order to create the Elements, he had to draw in a lot of dark magic from other sources and convert it into the desired Element. But the darkness started taking control of his mind, and eventually it completely possessed him. The dark magic consumed him with thoughts of power, greed, and lots of other terrible thoughts. He became a dark sorcerer named Deadly Sin, and he tried to take over Canterlot. He manipulated ponies into joining him or hypnotized them until he had enough followers to make an army. War broke out between the followers of the good Elements and the bad ones, and it left many ponies dead and many more widowed or orphaned. Then somehow, the tide of the war turned in favor of the Elements of Harmony, and Deadly Sin and his followers were defeated. The hypnotized ponies were freed, those who followed him willingly were punished, the dark elements were spread throughout the land, and the memories of the war were erased from ponies minds. But Deadly Sin simply vanished."

"Does anyone know what happened to him?" Twilight asked, trying to control her nerves.

Laurel shook her head and said, "There are many different legends, but no one knows which one's the truth. Some say he died. Others say he fled into the Great Stormy Mountains in the north, and is waiting for the opportune moment to strike again. And still others say he abandoned Equestria altogether, tried similar attacks on other nations. It's a mystery."

Laurel turned to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and said, "Unless you know?"

"You're intel is mostly correct, Laurel," Luna said, "However, there are a few details you're missing. The reason he named himself Deadly Sin is because...well...we're the reason he became that way."

"What?!" all the ponies at the table said.

"We were the ones who asked him to take on the assignment. In order for harmony to exist in the world, there needs to be a balance between dark and light." Celestia explained darkly, "Back then, we believed the only way to achieve this was to create a strong source of dark magic alongside the good magic, to keep harmony in Equestria. But when the dark magic started taking his mind, it also began to disfigure his body. He tried to tear himself away, and we tried to help him, but the darkness kept calling him back, and eventually he refused our help altogether and began blaming us for the monster he was becoming. Eventually, when he became a powerful dark sorcerer, he named himself Deadly Sin, claiming that he would be the mistake that would cause not only the end of our reign, but the downfall of Equestria."

"I don't like this story…" Fluttershy mumbled, trembling. Discord got up from his seat and held her, petting her mane to comfort her.

"Me neither." Snowflake said, shaking even harder.

Silver Storm put his hoof on hers and said, "The Royal Guard's here to protect you. All of you."

Snowflake blushed and said, "Thank you, Silver Storm."

Silver Storm smiled and said, "Please, call me Silver."

Honor Medallion cleared his throat and said, "So, Your Highnesses, how did the good side of the Elements of Harmony win the war?"

"We discovered a secret about the Elements of Disharmony that separated them in a way that led to the darkness's downfall-they must always stand alone. The dark Elements are most powerful when they're on their own, whereas the Elements of Harmony are at their most powerful when they work as one. This allowed us to produce more powerful magic than Deadly Sin and his followers, leading to us winning the war and dispel the darkness." Luna said.

"But what about Deadly Sin?" Starlight asked, "Is he still alive?"

"Yes, I'm afraid, so." Celestia said, "The legend that Deadly Sin disappeared into the Great Stormy Mountains is true. His life force is connected to the Elements of Disharmony. As long as they remain intact, he lives."

"Why not just destroy the Disharmony Elements, then?" Evergreen asked, "If they're keeping the worst villain in Equestria's history alive and causing trouble everywhere they pop up, wouldn't it be best to just destroy the dark Elements so the evil here stops and Deadly Sin dies?"

"We considered that," Luna said, "However, we were unsure of what would happen if we did do it. If we were destroy the Disharmony Elements, what would happen to the dark magic contained inside them? Would it spread throughout Equestria? And if it did, what disasters would it cause? Would it infect other ponies and turn them into dark sorcerers like Deadly Sin?"

Luna shook her head and continued, "The risk was simply too great. Our subjects had just survived a terrible war, we didn't want to take a chance on putting them through another disaster."

"But if it really is Deadly Sin who's doing all this-if he's preparing to come back-then what are we going to do?" Starlight asked.

The other ponies turned to Celestia and Luna, waiting anxiously for their response.

Celestia closed her eyes, sighed, and said, "If it is truly Deadly Sin's rise that is causing this darkness, then I'm afraid that we only have one option-we must prepare for war."

"WAR?!" Every pony and Discord cried.

"Like _battle_ war? With blood, and guts, and dead bodies and stuff? Did I mention I'm super squeamish?" Funny Bone squeaked.

"And what about Flurry Heart? Even if she's an alicorn, she's only a filly! How will we protect her?" Cadence cried.

"If we're going to war with Deadly Sin, won't the war end up just like the Great Pony War? With thousands dead, if not more?" Starlight asked.

"I don't know if our troops are ready to face such a threat, your Highnesses." Shining Armor said worriedly.

"Wouldn't it be better to just evacuate the city?" Laurel asked.

"Everypony, please!" Celestia cried, "I understand you're anxious, and I wish I could reassure you, but I'm afraid I can't do that, nor can I provide all the answers. But I'll tell you what I do know-Deadly Sin won't stop until he's been defeated. If we tried to evacuate, he would continue hunting us down until he found us and destroyed us all. Our only chance of winning is to stand our ground and fight. Therefore, we must remain vigilant and do the best we can to prepare."

Everyone at the table agreed, and Twilight asked, "If Deadly Sin's rising again, how do we know who's on his side and who's not?"

"An excellent question, Princess Twilight," Princess Luna said, as she cast a spell from her horn. An image of a cracked skull with two swords crossed in the background, and Luna reported, "All of Deadly Sin's disciples bore this mark on their left shoulder. Assuming this hasn't changed, we should be able to identify his allies this way."

There was knock on the door, and in came an orange stallion with a blue mane wearing Royal Guard armor.

"Flash Sentry?" Twilight asked, feeling her face flush.

Flash smiled warmly at Twilight and winked before he bowed to the princesses and said, "Forgive me for interrupting, your Highnesses, but some of our troops have spotted an alarming sight in the north. We need you at the north castle wall immediately."

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Flash. Please lead us there." Celestia said, rising from her chair.

"As you wish, Princess. Please follow me." Flash said, turning to leave.

Discord and the other ponies got out of their chairs and followed Flash until they reached the a door to the outside. Flash opened the door, and the ponies were greeted to a harsh, continuous bale of wind and red drops falling from the sky that had a frightening, all too familiar smell.

"Is…" Scarlet said nervously, "Is it raining blood?"

" _Blood?"_ Funny Bone asked, looking like he was going to be sick.

Flash nodded and said, "I'm afraid it only gets worse. Come with me, everypony."

"Do I have to?" Funny Bone said, sweating like a pig.

"If you're grossed out, Funny Bone, you should probably stay. It probably wouldn't be good to throw up in the middle of the castle. Go back to your room and lie down for a bit." Laurel suggested.

"'Kay," Funny Bone said, turning around and running, looking like he was trying to swallow back puke.

Twilight and her friends braced themselves and marched from the security of the castle hall to the outside, where Twilight felt her heart drop as what she was seeing. The clouds were the deepest shade of black she'd ever seen, and had taken the forms of crude images and terrifying faces. Purple vines with red tipped thorns were climbing up the castle walls, and lunging out at Twilight and her friends like they were trying to snag them. Twilight heard sinister voices whispering in her ears, mumbling insults, threats, and promises of destruction and death.

Still, despite her pounding heart, Twilight followed her fellow princesses to the north wall, where she felt her entire body go numb with shock at what she saw.

Horrible creatures unlike anything Twilight had ever seen were circling around a dome of darkness so black, Twilight couldn't see anything through it. The clouds there appeared to be burning with a hellish green fire, and lightning flashed in multiple directions at once, sending up clouds of smoke wherever they struck. Even from here, Twilight could hear the roars and screeches of the monsters over the typhoon winds and pouring blood rain, despite the fact that they looked to be hundreds of yards away.

"Your Highness?" one of the guards called over the storm, "Can you tell us what this means?"

"Yes." Celestia said, staring grimly into the distance, "It means Deadly Sin _is_ rising, and he's preparing to attack very soon."


	5. (Un)Happy Homecoming

Chapter 5- (Un)Happy Homecoming

Laurel was heavily breathing into a paper bag, while Evergreen held on to her, and tried to hide the fact that he was shaking heavily. Funny Bone had been locked in the bathroom for hours now, vomiting and sobbing. Fluttershy was on the ground trembling and covering her head with her two front legs, Rainbow Dash was anxiously biting at her hooves, Applejack was anxiously pacing back and forth, and Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Scarlet, and Cupid were clinging to each other in fear, while Silver tried to comfort Snowflake.

Princess Twilight anxiously looked around the room, trying desperately to think of the right words to reassure her friends that everything would be okay, but no matter what she came up with, everything felt like a lie.

In truth, Twilight was more terrified than she'd ever been in her entire life. Even facing Nightmare Moon with a group of strangers, saving The Crystal Empire from Sombra, and venturing through the mirror into a brand new world wasn't as terrifying as the impending war that was looming over them.

"W-When…" Laurel asked, breaking the silence, "When do you think he'll strike?"

"I don't know, but...we have to remain positive. Everything will work out the way it always does. We'll just have to plan out our strategies carefully, make sure we stick together, and use our Elements to take down the dark ones. We've been in bad situations before and come out on top, there's no reason we can't do it again. Everything's okay, guys." Twilight said, trying to reassure herself.

"No, it's not okay! None of this is okay!" Laurel said, leaping to her feet.

"Laurel, how can you say that?" Scarlet asked.

"You think I'm stupid?! Look around you!" Laurel snapped, gesturing around her, "We're facing the most powerful Equestrian villain _ever_. He hasn't even arrived yet, and his magic's so strong that he's managed to send out vibrations that only unicorns can feel, turned the sky grizzly red, unleashed pulsations that make everypony see their worst fears, made it run blood, and created sinister looking vines that are climbing the castle walls and growing at a rate I've never seen! Deadly Sin is clearly more powerful than Sombra, Discord, or even Nightmare Moon! I'm sorry to say this, Twilight, but this time around, I don't think the Magic of Friendship is going to be enough to fix this problem! We're going to actually have to fight for our lives!"

Evergreen put one of his front legs around Laurel, and then frowned.

"That's not just it, is it?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Laurel asked.

"You've got that look in your eyes that you get when something's bothering you, but you're trying not to show it." Evergreen asked.

Laurel face fell, and she nodded.

"The dark magic's rising to incredible levels. And if Deadly Sin gets his hooves on the Elements of Disharmony, they'll rise even more. What if all the dark magic from the dark Elements causes me to...to become _her_ again? Midnight Eclipse?" Laurel asked.

"I don't think that'll happen." Starlight said, "Granted, I wasn't there when you became Midnight Eclipse, but from what you all told me, it sounds like she was a powerful manifestation of your hatred for Twilight and your feelings of anger, depression, and betrayal. You're not feeling that anymore, are you?"

Laurel shook her head, and Starlight reassured, "Then you should be fine. Don't worry about becoming Midnight Eclipse. We'll be there to help you if you feel yourself becoming her, and stop her if she consumes you."

"Thanks, Starlight." Laurel said, giving a small smile.

"Why don't we take a walk around the city?" Twilight suggested, "Getting out of the castle for a bit may help ease our minds a bit."

"But what about all the security risks?" Evergreen asked.

"We can defend ourselves. We've got an alicorn princess with us, plus a bunch of other powerful non-princess unicorns, air support from us pegasi, and a wide variety of skills to help us fight. If anypony tries to mess with us, we'll _hyah_. And _wooah._ And _bam, bam POW!_ " Rainbow Dash said, mimicking punches and kicks in the air, "We've got nothing to worry about."

"And what if we run into my parents or some of my old classmates?" Laurel asked.

"We said we'd defend you, remember?" Applejack said, "We meant when we made that promise to you, we meant it. I think going out to try to destress is a good idea. What do y'all think?"

Everypony else agreed except for Funny Bone, who asked, "Is it still raining blood?"

Pinkie looked out the window and said, "Nope! Not a single drop is falling."

"Are there puddles of blood in the road?" Funny Bone asked.

Snowflake joined Pinkie at the window and said, "Yeah, a few."

Funny Bone moaned and said, "In that case, I think I'll just stay here."

"Hang on, I'll whip you up something to help with your upset stomach." Evergreen said, using his magic to pull a brown messenger bag towards him.

Evergreen pulled out a brown powder, some green leaves, a fresh lemon, a knife, a bowl, and a bottle of water from his bag. He used his magic to cut the lemon into slices, then poured the water into the bowl and squeezed a lemon slice into the water. Then he added a bit of the brown powder, and crushed the leaves, then added them into the bowl, and stirred it up.

"What is that?" Twilight asked, watching him.

"Warm water with lemon combined with ground ginger and peppermint leaves." Evergreen said, "Ginger and peppermint are some of the best natural remedies for relieving an upset stomach, and warm water with lemon is also good method. So when combined, they create a powerful natural medicine that relieves a queasy stomach quickly."

Evergreen knocked on the bathroom door and said, "Here, Funny Bone, drink this. It'll help you feel better."

Funny Bone took the bowl and drank, then said, "Ugh, it tastes bad."

"I know, but it'll help you feel better faster. Drink all of it, okay?" Evergreen said.

"'Kay," Funny Bone croaked, gulping down the rest of the medicine.

"Alright, now just stay here a rest a while, okay? You'll feel better soon." Evergreen soothed.

"Thanks," Funny Bone said, burping, "Have fun."

The ponies left Funny Bone and headed out. Just as they were about to reach the castle doors, a voice called out to them.

"Hey!" Honor Medallion's voice echoed, "What are you doing?"

"We were just going to take a walk around the city and try to unwind a bit." Twilight said.

"Your Highness, there is a level 3 emergency declared throughout the city. You cannot leave without at least one Royal Guard in your party. Not to mention, the security risks-!" Honor protested.

"Honor, relax!" Silver said, cutting him off, "If you keep obsessively worrying like that, you're going to get your tail tangled in knots. We're just going to take a stroll through the city. We're not going too far, we're not leaving Canterlot, and we're not doing anything that could potentially put ourselves or others in danger. Plus, I'm going to be with them the entire time. You can't get much safer than the first lieutenant of the Royal Guard with you. Plus we have Princess Twilight with us."

Honor scowled but sighed and said, "Fine. If you're sure that this isn't too risky a move, then go right ahead. I'll tell the gatekeepers let you through."

"Thanks, Honor." Silver said as Honor walked away. Honor grunted and grumbled as he walked away from the group.

"Is Honor Medallion always that...uptight?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Silver Storm shook his head and said, "Only when he's stressed. He takes his role as a Royal Guard very seriously. We all do. I kind of get like that too, when I get stressed. The way Honor reacts to stress is more severe because, well...he's just kind of a severe pony in general. But he's got a good heart."

"You don't seem to be all that stressed out." Evergreen noted.

"Believe me, I am." Silver said darkly, "But I'm trying not to address it too much. Fear hinders me from doing my job well. I'm deeply worried about Canterlot, Equestria, and the ponies who live here, but if I panic, Equestria loses a valuable soldier, and that could lead to all kinds of disaster. I have to remain calm, for my safety as well as everyone else's."

"Also," Silver added, "Having you guys here is helping me unwind a bit, too. It's nice having a group of friends around the castle, especially since I'm the First Lieutenant of the Royal Guard, and I don't always have the luxury of having a lot of free time to leave the palace and meet new ponies."

"Well, I'm glad we're helping you feel better, Silver. What do you say we go take that walk through the city now?" Twilight asked.

Everypony agreed, and they left through the main gate, and talked and walked around the city. The stopped in a cafe for some drinks and treats, as well as examined some shops, and strolled downtown, taking in the scenery and trying to ignore the grizzly sights around them.

But their moment of bliss was shattered when a taunting voice called out to them,

"Laurel Wreath? Is that _you_?"

Laurel and her friends froze dead in their tracks and turned around to see a blue unicorn and her gang trotting towards them, smirking and giggling.

"Uh-oh." Evergreen said as he and his friends tensed, and Laurel cowered.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"It's Blueberry Bliss and her gang. They were some of our biggest bullies back in school." Snowflake mumbled.

"I thought I smelled the stench of a washed-up failure. What are you doing back here? I thought you and your stupid friends moved to Mudville where all the _lesser ponies_ live." Blueberry Bliss jeered.

"'Mudville?'" Starlight asked.

"It's what some of the high class ponies here call Ponyville." Evergreen explained.

Laurel tried to steel her nerve and said, "Blueberry Bliss. You and your friends certainly haven't changed. I see you're still as cold as a frozen blueberry yogurt pop that's been in the freezer for hours."

Blueberry Bliss and her friends laughed, and a light brown pegasus said, "She still can't even make a proper insult! No wonder her parents kicked her out. Who would want a daughter like _Loser Laurel_!"

Blueberry Bliss and her friends laughed again, and Evergreen said, "Yeah, well, at least she's more independent than you'll ever be, Caramel Kisses! Still spending Daddy's money instead of your own?"

"Oh, look! Laurel's little 'friends' are here, too! You all must be idiotically loyal to stay with a pathetic little thing like _her_." a white unicorn with a curly silver mane jeered.

"She's such a waste of oxygen that not even her own parents wanted her, much less anyone around here who's somewhat _decent_." A gold unicorn said.

"Well, maybe we don't care what her parents or any other pony thinks!" Cupid snapped.

"Yeah. And your parents must've been as horrible as hers if they gave you a stupid name like Honey Cake or a name that screams, 'Look at me, I'm a stuck up brat' like Diamond Delight." Scarlet growled.

Blueberry and her friends gasped, and Blueberry cried, "Oh no, you did not!"

"Scarlet, that may have been pushing it a bit too far." Evergreen whispered.

Blueberry tried to march forward to get in Scarlet's face, and then paused.

She and her friends gasped when they looked down and saw that Blueberry a stepped in a puddle of blood.

"My...my beautiful hoof as been soiled by this foul liquid!" she cried, pulling her hoof back as if burned.

"I'm going home!" Blueberry announced, "But don't think I'm going to forget this insult!"

Blueberry galloped away, and Caramel Kisses, Honey Cake, and Diamond Delight ran after her crying, "Blueberry, wait!"

"Are you okay, Laurel Wreath?" Silver asked.

Everypony looked at Laurel and saw that she was desperately trying-and failing-to hold back tears.

"Laurel, don't listen to what those mean ponies said. You aren't a failure. And you are wanted. We all want you. We love you for who you are. Please don't let other ponies harsh words determine your self-worth." Twilight soothed.

"You...you guys would really want to be around a pony that everyone else rejected? Even her own family?" Laurel whimpered.

"Compared to being with ponies like _that_ ," Evergreen said, scowling in the direction Blueberry Bliss and her gang had run off in, "Yes, a thousand times."

"I only just met you, and I already really like you, Laurel. Don't worry about what other ponies think." Silver said.

Laurel started sobbing again, and Twilight pulled her into a hug. The other ponies joined in, giving Laurel a big group hug. They stayed that way for a few minutes, until Laurel stopped crying.

"Feeling better?" Twilight asked.

Laurel nodded and said, "Let's...let's continue our stroll around the city."

The other ponies let go of Laurel and continued walking around Canterlot, until they passed by a dark purple and white unicorn couple. They paused when Laurel walked by them, and cried, " _Laurel Wreath?"_

Laurel turned and gasped, her body going frigid.

"M-Mother, F-Father." Laurel mumbled.

"What in Equestria are you doing?! Stand like a lady, for Celestia's sake! Spine straight, head up, eyes forward, legs stiff!" Laurel's mother cried.

"Yes, Mother." Laurel said, doing as she was told.

Laurel's mother circled around her, examining her from head to hoof.

"Hmph," she said at last, "You seem to look decent enough. At least you had the sense not to let that hideous mane and tail of yours go unstyled."

" _Hideous?_ Her mane and tail are beautiful!" Evergreen snapped as Silver scowled.

Laurel's parents ignored him, and continued criticizing Laurel.

"So, _Laurel Wreath_ ," her father strained, as if her name had a bad taste, "What brings you back here? I thought you and your equally useless pack of goons moved to Mudville, where disgraces like you belong."

"Hey! We're from Ponyville, and we're not disgraces!" Rainbow Dash cried. Silver's frown grew even deeper.

"Equestria's in danger, Father." Laurel explained timidly, "Surely you can see the warning signs with how the sky looks and the puddles of blood everywhere. My friends and I received a letter from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to come to Canterlot to help fix the issue."

Laurel parents laughed, and her mother said, " _You_? Help with this? How? You have nothing to offer that the princesses could want. You have no money, no title, no power, not even a family after we got rid of you."

"What are you talking about? Laurel left you guys out of her own free will because you were mistreating her!" Applejack cried.

"Is that what she said? Well, then, it appears she has become a liar, too. We booted Laurel out our family as soon as she came of age, so she wouldn't continue embarrassing us. And why wouldn't we? Who would want an abomination like _her_ tarnishing their family name?"

Silver's scowl turned into a sneer as he bares his teeth, dug at the ground, and laid his ears flat across his back.

"How can you say such horrible things to your own daughter?" Twilight asked.

"The…the princesses want my magic, Mother, Father." Laurel said, tears streaming down her face, "I've become a really good magician. If you could just let me show you-!"

"Show us what?" Laurel's father snapped, "One of your mediocre magic tricks? So you can humiliate us here in front of everyone and make us the laughing stock of the kingdom? Face it, Laurel Wreath, you're useless. You have nothing special to offer anyone. The most you'll probably be able to do with your miserable existence is sell your body for the enjoyment others. And Celestia forbid you reproduce, since the only thing that will come out of you is more useless ponies. In fact, you can go throw yourself off the castle wall, for all we care! Get out of our sights, now, you worthless thing!"

Laurel was openly sobbing at that point. Her horn started glowing golden, and a in a flash of light she was gone.

"Good riddance." Laurel's mother said as she and her husband turned to leave.

"How dare you speak to your own daughter that way!" Silver snapped, his anger boiling over.

"Excuse me?" Laurel's father asked.

"I said, HOW DARE YOU SPEAK YOUR DAUGHTER THAT WAY!" Silver yelled, his face tomato red, "You must be blinder than a bat to not see what an awesome pony your daughter is! I've only known her for a few hours, and even I can already tell she's an extremely intelligent pony who has a heart of gold and genuinely wants to help others! I can see now that it's not her fault her reputation is tarnished, it's because of wicked ponies like you who talk shit about her! She's training under Princess Luna, for crying out loud! Doesn't that make you proud of her?!"

"First of all, how dare you shout at us like that." Laurel's mother said haughtily, "Second, studying under Princess Luna rather than Princess Celestia is hardly an notable accomplishment."

"I'll speak to you however I want, you just insulted my friend, and I don't take kindly to ponies hurting my friends! Have you got applesauce in your ears?! Your daughter is studying to become a princess under _Princess Luna_. Why is that not enough for you?! Even the most pompous ponies should be proud of something like that, you little-!"

"Silver!" Snowflake cried, cutting him off, "Stop please."

Silver turned to see the other ponies looking at him in shock and fear, and even Fluttershy cowering behind Twilight.

The fire inside Silver Storm died down, and he turned to Laurel's parents and coldly said, "Fine. But I hope you two consider what I said."

He turned and walked through Twilight and her and Laurel's friends.

"Let's go. It's not worth wasting oxygen on ponies who's egos are bigger than Equestria." Silver spat, walking towards the palace.

Twilight and her friends hesitantly followed Silver back to the Celestia and Luna's castle, still in shock over what happened.

When they were back inside, Silver turned to Twilight and her friends and said, "I'm very sorry if I frightened you back there. It's just, I hate seeing other ponies suffer. It reminds too much of what happened to me when I was a colt."

"What happened to you?" Twilight asked.

Silver hesitated, and then shook his head.

"I...I don't want to talk about it right now. Let's just say that what happened to me is the reason I'm like that, and why I joined the Royal Guard. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for getting so angry back there. Can you forgive me?"

Twilight and her friends nodded, and Silver breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to return to my Royal Guard duties. Tell Laurel Wreath I hope she feels better soon." Silver said.

"We will." Evergreen promised..

Silver smiled, winked at Snowflake, making her blush, and walked away.

When Twilight and her friends arrived at Laurel's room, they found her sobbing into her bed while Funny Bone, Shining Armor, and all 3 princesses tried to comfort her.

"Oh, Princess Twilight!" Princess Luna said when she spotted her and her friends, "Please, come in at once. We will be needing your assistance in order to help Laurel with her grievance."

"Are you all okay? You looked awfully spooked." Cadence said, noticing the looks on Twilight's and her gang's faces.

"We're fine, it's just...well…" Twilight said, fearing punishment for Silver.

"Silver Storm really went off on Laurel's parents, and it spooked us all." Scarlet said.

Celestia frowned and commanded, "Explain what you mean by this."

With some difficulty, Twilight's friends managed to explain what Silver had said and done to Laurel's parents after she left. When they finished, Funny Bone and Laurel were staring at them in shock.

"I'm sorry you all had to see that." Shining Armor said gravely, "I'll talk to him about it. Even if his actions had a noble reason behind that, that's still inappropriate behavior for a member of The Royal Guard. Especially a pony with his rank."

"I guess we should've warned you all when you met him." Cadence said.

"Wait, you mean this isn't the first time it's happened?" Laurel hiccuped.

"I'm afraid not. Silver Storm has a very strong sense of right and wrong, and is very passionate about his beliefs. He very openly despises all things oppressive, unjust, and cruel. And while this does make him an excellent soldier who is willing to put his life on the line for the good of Equestria, it also makes him very headstrong, and quick to anger, as you've seen by now." Luna said darkly.

"Please understand, though, he has a very good heart, but his very strong moralities can sometimes blind his judgement." Celestia said.

"Silver mentioned that the reason he's like that is because of something in his past. What happened to him?" Twilight asked.

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence looked at Shining Armor, expecting him to answer.

"I'm afraid it's not my place to tell you, Twily." Shining Armor said, "If you want to know, you'll have to ask Silver Storm himself. Though, it may take him a while to open up to you about it. It's not something he likes to discuss."

Princess Celestia stood up and said, "I think it's best that we leave you to comfort Laurel, since you all know her best. We will come by later to check up on you all. Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Captain, please come with me."

"Yes, ma'am." the three of them said, following Celestia out of the room.

Twilight and her friends focused their attention on Laurel, and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to cheer her up and forget the cutting words of her parents and bullies.


	6. The Siege of Canterlot

Chapter 6-The Siege of Canterlot

Twilight was sound asleep in her bed, Spike snoring contently in a smaller bed beside her. All was quiet throughout the castle, with not one living thing making a sound, until a large explosion reverberated throughout the castle.

KABOOM.

Twilight yelped and leaped into the air, startled from her sleep.

"Gah!" Spike cried, suddenly awakened as well, "What was that?!"

"I'm not sure." Twilight said, rubbing her eyes, her heart pounding.

Spike looked behind Twilight and went pale.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, alarmed.

"Look!" Spike cried pointing out the window.

Twilight turned and felt her heart sink to her hooves. Outside, it was darker than Twilight had ever seen. A eerie pitch blackness and fallen on the kingdom, so dark that Twilight couldn't see a foot out her window.

"This must be Deadly Sin's work!" Twilight realized, "He must be here!"

"Who?" Spike asked.

"The worst villain in Equestria's history! Even worse than Nightmare Moon and Sombra combined!" Twilight explained.

"Worse than Nightmare Moon _and_ Sombra?!" Spike asked, horrified.

Twilight nodded and cried, "C'mon! We've gotta get out of here before-!"

Twilight was cut off when the door to her room was suddenly smashed into splinters, as well as a few feet of rock. Through the dust came a giant, gray being that had a large nose and ears, tiny eyes, dark gray spots on it's bald head, and long dirty fingernails. It wore nothing but a loincloth around its waist, and carried a large wooden club the length of its arm. It grunted and sniffed the air, as if searching for something.

"What is that thing?!" Spike asked.

"A mountain troll!" Twilight cried.

The mountain troll turned to Twilight, bellowed, and raised his club.

Twilight flew out of the way in the nick of time, almost getting smashed by the troll's club. The impact cracked the floor, and the troll grunted angrily.

Twilight blasted a beam of magic at the troll, but it seemed to have no effect on the troll. It turned around and swung at Twilight, trying to knock her out of the air.

Twilight dodged, and the troll swung again, this time nearly hitting Twilight.

Spike blew fire at the troll's heel, and it roared in pain. The troll turned to Spike, and raised its club.

"Spike, no!" Twilight cried.

The troll tried to bring down its club, but was suddenly stopped when its club was ripped from its hands.

The troll grunted, confused, and looked around the room for its missing club.

Twilight lifted the club with her magic, and swung into the back of the troll's head.

The troll grunted in pain and moaned as it stumbled around the room, finally collapsing and destroying the bed, vanity, and one of the walls.

Twilight dropped the club and flew down to Spike's side.

"You okay?" she asked him.

Spike was too shocked to speak, so he just nodded.

"Good. C'mon," Twilight said, lifting Spike onto her back, "Let's get out of here before the troll wakes up."

Twilight raced out to of her room to find the hallway in chaos as her friends and the Royal Guards battled monsters of all shapes and sizes, some of which even Twilight couldn't identify.

 _I have to help my friends,_ Twilight thought, charging into the melee.

An explosion rocked through the castle, causing Princess Celestia to spill ink on the draft of the new law she was writing.

She looked out the window, and was shook to a thick darkness outdoors that she had seen only once before.

 _Deadly Sin has arrived,_ Princess Celestia thought, trying to fight her fear, _The war has begun._

The doors and walls to her left suddenly cracked and fell apart. Princess Celestia rose from her desk, preparing to fight whatever any enemy dared challenge her.

"There's the sun princess!" A hairy red monster cried, "Attack!"

A horde of monsters came charging in, and Celestia froze. She had been expecting at most a small group of enemies to attack her. This was an entire militia's worth of beasts.

Celestia knew immediately that she would be overwhelmed. Had Luna been there, they may have stood a chance, working side-by-side as always. But the last time Celestia had seen her sister, she had been performing her royal duty by watching over the night. Not even she knew what had become of her now.

That left Celestia with only one option-fight back and fend for herself as long as possible, despite the inevitable outcome.

Celestia put aside her fear, and launched her first attack.

Silver was polishing the weapons and armor in the armory before the attack again. Most of the other Guards loathed this chore, but Silver didn't mind. The silence of the armory gave him time to think. It was one of the things that made Silver different from most of his comrades. Most stallions, like Captain Shining Armor and his friend Second Lieutenant Honor Medallion, were stallions of action. They were constantly moving around, doing something with their hooves or magic, or working on something. They hardly ever took time to relax. Since Shining Armor had gotten married and had his daughter, he took more time to kick back and spend time with his family. But since Honor had very few friends and no special somepony because of how rigid he appeared upon first meeting him, it was rare that you saw him taking a break, except for when he was eating meals.

Silver, on the other hoof, preferred a more laid-back approach to life. He understood why Honor and Shining preferred the lives they lead, but all the constant hustle and bustle would have either driven Silver crazy, made him drop from exhaustion, or both. It was why he had fallen for Snowflake-he could tell from the moment they started really talking she preferred a calmer life style, like he did. Not to mention she was so kind and so beautiful.

But as much as he tried to focus on Snowflake's face and fantasize about her, his mind kept wandering back to the conversation he'd had with the Captain a few minutes ago.

Shining Armor and him were like brothers. In fact, Silver was the only pony he allowed to call him by his first name, and not "Captain", unless they were in a formal situation. But he still couldn't shake what Shining had said to him.

 _This is at least the 200th time that this has happened,_ Shining scolded, _You need to learn to get your temper under control._

 _But, Shining, Laurel's parents were saying horrible things to her!_ Silver protested, _They called her a disgrace, and said she should go become a prostitute, since that's the only thing she'd be good at!_

 _I know,_ Shining said calmly, _My sister and her friends told me about what happened. You did a noble thing trying to stand up for her, Silver, and I'm proud of you for it, but you went about it in the wrong way. You forget that Royal Guards are not just soldiers, we also represent the palace and The Royal Sisters. You shouting at the ponies was a bad representation of all of us. You should've stood up for her more calmly, or let Laurel's friends take care of it._

 _You know I can't do that!_ Silver cried, _You know I can't stand seeing ponies suffering, and you know it's because of what happened to me when I was a colt! That's why I joined The Royal Guard, to protect other ponies so nopony, especially kids, will suffer the way I did!_

 _Well if you don't learn to reign yourself in soon, you may not be part of The Guard much longer!_ Shining snapped.

 _Being part of The Royal Guard means the world to me,_ Silver thought, _It makes me feel like I can make a difference in the world, by protecting other ponies. It was the only home I had left, after-!_

Silver shook his head and dried his watering eyes.

 _No, I don't want to think about right now. But, still, if I lose this-!_

Silver was cut off mid-thought when the walls shook as a violent explosion rattled them. Silver dropped the helmet he was working on polishing, and threw the door open to see what had happened.

A large hole had been blown one of the castle walls, a smoke was filling the room, making Silver and the other guards cough. He could already hear his comrades stationed on the walls shouting, and the sounds of spells being launched and pegasi flying at super high speeds.

"Lieutenant Silver Storm!" a guard said, running up to him. The guard looked to be in terrible shape. He had multiple injuries and was bleeding from cuts all over his body, and his mane looked as if part of it had been seared off.

"What's going on out there, Private?" Silver asked.

The guard saluted and said in between gasps for air, "We're under attack, sir. There's a large army of monsters advancing towards the palace. They're coming from every direction except the south, and there are monsters who are attacking from the land, from the sky, and even from the river!"

The soldier jumped and Silver winced as another explosion burst just outside of the east wall.

"Lieutenant, what are your orders?" the soldier asked.

"Have you asked Captain Shining Armor for direction?" Silver asked him.

"No, sir. I wasn't able to find him, sir. You're the highest ranking officer I was able find, and we need help, sir!" the guard said.

"Understood. Sound the alarm throughout the kingdom, and try to hold off the invaders for as long as you can." Silver said.

"We're trying, sir!" the soldier cried, "There's just too many of them! We're going to be overrun any minute now!"

"In that case, try to hold out for as long as you can." Silver commanded, "Once the monsters first monsters reach the main gate, withdraw and prepare to enact Defense Plan Delta. Locate the princesses immediately and get them and the civilians in the castle to a safe location."

"Yes, sir!" the guard said, saluting and then running away.

The alarm starting ringing throughout the castle, and the guards ran to into the armory, scrambling to get weapons, shields, and armor.

"To your stations!" Silver roared, "Prepare for attack!"

The other guards filed around Silver, and braced themselves for the inevitable.

About a minute later, the beasts came charging in, roaring and hissing and screeching. They carried a variety of different weapons from boulders and logs to swords, spears and torches. Even a group of ponies were in the mix, bearing the mark of Sin's followers on their left shoulders. They quickly parted to clear a path, and a terrifying creature walked through the cleared space.

It had the shape of a pony, but it was horrifically disfigured and much larger than other ponies. The monster had purely crimson eyes with ink black veins running through them. It's skin was obsidian black, thin, and brittle, with grey spots where the skin was either cracked or completely gone, revealing bones that were chipped, cracked, and completely broken. The beast had two large holes in its chest, revealing that it had multiple ribs missing, revealing gray, scarred, shriveled lungs that were hanging out of its body, and a sickly, weak olive heart that looked as if it was barely working. It was breathing hoarsely and very heavily, sounding as if it had smoked cigarettes for decades.

"Deadly Sin…" Silver whispered, trying to look brave in front of his soldiers.

Deadly Sin looked, around, took a deep, raspy breath, and sighed, smiling with broken, fanged teeth.

"Canterlot." Deadly Sin hissed, "It'ssssss been so long since I've been homeeee. SSSSSo much has changed, and yet...this looksss all too familiar."

"Be gone, Deadly Sin!" Silver barked, "You are not welcome here, and were are prepared to fight to the death to stop you!"

Deadly Sin let out a croaking noise that took Silver a minute to realize was laughter.

"SSSuch bravadooo." Deadly Sin rasped, "You poniesss really think you can me? III am the most powerful sorcerer to ever exisssst. And with my army, I am virtually unstoppable. So, I offer you a choice. Join my ranks and watch the birth of a gloriousss new empire, or try to fight me and perisssshhhh."

"NEVER! We swore an oath to guard Equestria, the princesses, and the ponies who live here. We'll fight you to our last breaths, won't we, stallions?!" Silver cried.

"Sir, yes, sir!" The guards cried, readying their weapons.

"Have it yourrr way theeennn." Deadly Sin sneered, "Army of Sin, attack! I'm going after the princesses!"

Deadly Sin's army roared and charged, while Deadly Sin spread torn up wings and somehow impossibly took flight.

 _He's fast for a guy that's pretty much a decaying corpse._

"Counter attack! Squadron Echo, stop Deadly Sin!" Silver ordered.

A group of unicorn and pegasi guards chased down Deadly Sin and as the pegasi took to the air and kicked at Sin, the unicorns launched spells from their horns in what should have been a lethal light show.

Instead, Deadly Sin merely growled in annoyance and launched a blinding dark lazer from his horn. Silver heard screams from the guards that were suddenly cut off, looked away. When he turned back, the guards in Squadron Echo had been turned to nothing but ash and bone.

Silver was horrified, but he had no time to grieve as a manticore advanced on him. Silver flew out of the way of its pounce, and saw something unusual.

Honor Medallion was sneaking out of the armory, sheathing a knife on a belt across his waist. Was...was Honor smirking?

Silver told himself that he was misjudging his friend, but still didn't like the look on Honor's face. He was suddenly cut off of his train of thought when the manticore took a swipe at him, barely missing Silver.

Silver took the opening and dived as fast as he could, sending his spear straight through the manticore's skull and into its brain, sending up a spurt of blood that stained parts of Silver's coat.

The manticore roared in pain and collapsed, blood running down its forehead and onto the floor.

Silver felt bad for a minute, and then remembered that the manticore was one of Deadly Sin's minions. He couldn't have reasoned with it-it would have killed him. He had no other option but to kill the manticore.

Silver then recalled Honor's suspicious actions, and grabbed a sword from one of his fallen comrades, then hesitated, not wanting to leave his troops behind and break the oath he had taken when he joined The Royal Guard.

Then, Silver remembered a conversation that he'd had with Shining Armor, when Silver was in his final year of training at The Royal Guard Academy, and Shining had been first lieutenant.

 _Our drill sergeant said that should never leave a guardsman behind._ Silver said.

 _That is correct. A good guard never abandons his comrades._ Shining told him.

 _But he also said to guard Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, and whatever other princesses are crowned with our lives. So...what if the guards and I are in the heat of a battle, but Princess Celestia is in danger? Which rule do I follow?_ Silver asked.

Shining Armor turned to him and said, _Always choose Princess Celestia or any other princess. While the loss of guards is tragic, we can always recruit more. If Princess Celestia falls, it will be nearly impossible to find a new alicorn ruler, greatly weakening Equestria and making us ripe for conquest and takeover. Always remember, Silver, your first duty is to the princesses, regardless of any other pony._

 _I get the sneaking suspicion that Honor's trying to do something to the princesses. I need to go after him_ now _and make sure he's not._ Silver thought.

He turned on his hoof and turned the corner in the direction Honor had gone, only to find that it lead to three corridors. The one straight ahead was an inferno and the one to his right was starting to burn as well. Only the left corridor was clear.

Silver flew down the left hallway, and then slowed when he heard hoofsteps not far in front of him.

 _The other guards are battling the monsters, and there aren't any in this hallway,_ Silver deduced, _So those hoofsteps must be Honor's._

Silver silently crept behind Honor Medallion, cautiously trying to keep out of Honor's sight and not make any noises to let him know he was there.

Silver felt his heart pounding like a drum in his chest as chased his old friend, trying not to fear the worst.

Spike hopped off Twilight's back as she charged into the melee and pulled her tail, making her yelp in pain.

"What are you _doing_?" Spike asked, releasing Twilight's tail.

"Our friends are in danger!" Twilight cried, turning to face Spike, "I have to help them!"

"Are you nuts?! You'll be killed!" Spike pleaded.

"I'll be fine. Just stay out of the way and let me know if the mountain troll wakes up!" Twilight called, dashing into the fray.

"Twilight, no! Twilight-!"

Twilight didn't hear the rest of what Spike said as the roars and hisses and sounds of wings flapping and magic filled Twilight's ears in a chaotic symphony.

Somewhere off to her left, Twilight heard a voice that sounded like pony's. Twilight fought her way through the monsters to get to that voice.

The voice she heard belonged to Laurel, who was trying to fend for herself against giant serpents. The serpents lashed out their tails at Laurel, tried to bite her, and spit venom at her. She dodged all of their attacks and fired magic from her horn. Twilight watched as a spell hit a serpent, in a flash of light, a candelabra stood in its place. More household objects-such as a large potted plant, a tea set, a towel, and a birdcage-laid around Laurel's hooves as well.

"Laurel, stand back!" Twilight cried, firing up her magic.

Laurel looked around until she saw Twilight and nodded, backing up a few steps.

Twilight released her magic on the serpents, and in a flash, the serpents were gone without a trace.

Twilight jogged over to Laurel, carefully stepping over the tea set, and embraced her. Laurel's forehead was beaded with sweat, and she was breathing heavily, but she reached up and hugged Twilight, too.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"I'm fine." Laurel said, panting.

"Are you sure? Did the serpents bite you or poison you?" Twilight questioned.

"Twilight, I'm fine, really." Laurel reassured, "Just a bit exhausted."

"Me too," Twilight said, grinning.

"But-but you're an alicorn princess." Laurel stammered.

"That doesn't mean I have unlimited magic and energy. Even princesses get tired." Twilight explained.

Twilight looked around and said, "I saw you turn that one serpent into a candelabra. Does that mean that all these items were once serpents?"

"Yeah. I couldn't figure out how to kill them without getting hurt, so I used my magic to transform them. I've always been good at transfiguration-changing a living thing or an object into another object." Laurel said.

Twilight shook her head, smiling, and said, "And your parents say you're bad at magic. I've only been able to do this _once_ , and that was by accident! You're incredible!"

Laurel blushed and said, "Thanks."

An explosion behind Twilight reminded her what she was in the melee for, and her heart started racing again.

"We've got to grab our friends and get out of here. Are you okay to keep going?" Twilight asked Laurel.

Laurel nodded, her expression serious, and said, "I'm right behind you."

Twilight dashed back on into the fray with Laurel on her heels. They used a wide variety of spells to stop the beasts, and Twilight marveled as Laurel used spells that even she didn't know-shrinking a harpy down to the size of an acorn, petrifying an imp, and transforming a thunderbird into a harmless canary.

 _She could've easily taken my place as Princess Celestia's pupil all those years ago if her ego hadn't destroyed her._ Twilight found herself thinking.

She then heard what sounded a pony's anxious squeal somewhere to her top left, and ran in that direction to find Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash guarding Fluttershy, who was cowering in the center of their circle.

Twilight used her magic to lift up the monsters that were surrounding her friends, and fling them out a hole in the wall.

"Twilight!" Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy cried, galloping to embrace their friend.

Twilight held them all close for a few seconds, and then pulled away and said, "Are you girls okay? I was so worried about you!"

"We're fine, thanks to you!" Applejack said.

"What about you? Are you okay? What took you so long?" Fluttershy asked.

"A mountain troll broke into my room, so I had to knock it out before it crushed Spike. Then, I rushed into the fight to find you guys, and Laurel here-"

Twilight turned to find that Laurel wasn't behind her like she'd expected.

"Laurel?" Twilight asked, looking around.

"Laurel?!" Twilight called, her panic rising, "LAUREL WREATH?!"

"Twilight!" Laurel called, racing toward her with Evergreen and Cupid not far behind.

"Where did you go?" Twilight asked, "You said you were right behind me! You scared me!"

"I'm sorry." Laurel said, looking ashamed, "I spotted Evergreen and Cupid, so I ran to go help them. I tried telling you where I was going, but I guess you didn't hear me."

"No, I'm sorry." Twilight said, "I shouldn't have gotten mad. I'm just...scared."

"Uh, can we maybe put aside the chatting for now and focus? We've got bigger problems." Rainbow Dash said bluntly.

"She's right. We gotta go find the rest of our friends. C'mon, y'all!" Applejack cried, dashing back into the battle.

Everypony followed her, kicking, jabbing, and casting spells on the beasts while trying to locate their missing friends.

"Twilight!" Cupid called, "I have an idea! I'm going to try flying above the battle and see if I can spot our friends!"

"Be careful!" Twilight warned as Cupid took to the air.

"I'll help her." Rainbow said, taking flight.

Cupid and Rainbow circled as fast as they could around the fight then landed in front of Twilight.

"Scarlet and Funny Bone are seperated. They're to the left and right of the big window at the end of the hall. They look like they're about to be trapped in a corner." Cupid reported.

"And Starlight, Rarity, and Snowflake are working together. They're in front of the large Celestia tapestry not far from here." Rainbow stated.

"Sounds like we'll have to split into two groups, then. Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I will go get Scarlet and Funny Bone. Laurel, Evergreen, Cupid, Fluttershy, go help Starlight and the others." Twilight said.

"And Laurel," she added, "You're looking pretty worn out. Be careful not to over exert yourself."

"Okay." Laurel said, sprinting to help Rarity and the rest of their friends.

"C'mon. We've gotta hurry!" Twilight said.

Twilight charged in the opposite direction, battling monsters to get to Scarlet and Funny Bone, occasionally looking behind her to make sure Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were still with her.

"Scarlet! Funny Bone!" Twilight called she got close.

Scarlet and Funny Bone looked relieved when they spotted Twilight, and withdrew as she, Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie took down the monsters surrounding them.

When they were all on the floor, unconscious, Evergreen checked Scarlet and Funny Bones. They were exhausted and had some injuries, but nothing life-threatening.

"Thanks for coming for us." Scarlet said, "I'm not sure how much longer we would've lasted if you hadn't."

Just as Twilight was about to reply, a blinding teal and golden light filled the room, forcing Twilight to squeeze her eyes shut.

When Twilight opened her eyes, she saw Starlight and Laurel looking more exhausted, and the hallway was suddenly void of monsters.

"What did you two do?" Twilight asked, running up to her friends.

"We both knew a powerful teleportation spell, so Laurel and I combined our magic to create a mass teleportation spell that sent all the monsters around us back to the Great Stormy Mountains." Starlight explained, somewhat out of breath.

"Rarity and I would've been devoured by a ogre if they hadn't. They saved us." Snowflake said.

Laurel moaned and stumbled, looking like she was trying to not to collapse. Evergreen steaded her, put his horn on hers, and used a spell that made his eyes glow green for a sec.

Evergreen pulled away, frowning, and said to Laurel, "You're running dangerously low on magic, and it's causing your body to have to pull energy from your muscles in order to cast spells. You need to stop, or you'll risk passing out, going into a coma, or even death. Let us take care of the magic for a while, okay?"

"Is she going to be okay?" Snowflake asked.

"If she gets some rest so she can replenish her energy and magic, she'll be fine. But since we're on the run for our lives, that may not be an option right now." Evergreen reported.

"Are you okay to keep running on your own, or do you need someone to carry you?" Twilight asked.

"I think I'll be alright, as long as we don't stay here for too much longer. We need to get out of here, or we'll be captured or killed." Laurel said, getting to her hooves.

"I agree. Let's see if we can find Shining Armor and the princesses, and get out." Twilight said.

The other ponies nodded and ran as fast as they could, praying they'd make it out alive.

Princess Celestia was bleeding from multiple cuts and bites, her wings were badly beaten-possibly broken, and she was beginning to run out of energy from all the spells she was using and blood loss.

Despite all this, she was trying with everything in her to keep the monsters at bay, even though more and more kept coming.

 _I only hope that my former pupil Princess Twilight, my niece Cadence and her family, my sister's pupil, and all their friends made have escaped safely. If they survive, we will win this war,_ Celestia thought to herself.

She cried as she suddenly found herself named in a cage of darkness. Celestia struggled and tried to use her magic to free herself, but the cage blocked her magic and pinned her into a laying down position so that she couldn't escape.

The monsters continued to try to attack her through the cage, making her cry out in pain.

"SSSSSSSSTOP!" A hoarse voice commanded over the monsters.

The beasts backed away from her cage and spread out as a horrible dark figure stepped between them. Luna was also in a dark cage, being dragged like a balloon in the air with a chain of dark magic.

"Celestia!" Luna cried, looking as battered as Celestia herself.

"Princesssss Celessstiaaa." Deadly Sin rasped, "It'ssss been a long timmme."

"Deadly Sin." Celestia said sharply, trying to sound confident.

"Ahhhhh, ssso you recognizzze me despite what you did to mmmmy bodyyyy." Deadly Sin mused.

"I didn't do this. The darkness did. It mutilated your body and corrupted your mind. The reason are the way you are today is because of the dark forces." Princess Celestia said.

"LIAR!" Deadly Sin cried, pounding his hoof against her cage, "The darknessss opened my eyesss. It sssshhhhowed me my trrrrue potential, whereas allll yoooouuu ever did was hold me baack."

He croaked a rusty laugh and said, "And ohhh, how the tables have turrrned. I am nowww the leader of the most powwerful army in the world, aaand you are trapped in cage of myyy desiiign."

"If you're planning to kill us, Deadly Sin, do it already. We are helpless, trapped in your cages. What are you waiting for?" Celestia challenged.

"Hmmmm, I suppoooose I could kill you nowww," Deadly Sin mused, "Buuut what would be the point in killing you nooow, when I could execute yoou front of your subjects and mark the beginning of myy empirrrre? So for nooow, I'll take you alllive."

Sin turned to his army of monsters and ordered, "Servants of Sin, taaake them aaawaaay!"

An ogre and a mountain troll lifted up Celestia's cage and carried her away along with Luna. And while Luna protested, Celestia looked over her shoulder at the view out her window, wondering if this was the last time she'd ever see her beloved home.

As Silver followed Honor, felt the hairs on his neck rise when Honor suddenly stopped and looked around.

Silver dove into a hallway to his left before Honor spotted him, and tried to conceal how heavily he was breathing.

Honor spun around in a circle as if looking for something, and then smirked at a nearby door, and charged. He threw open the door, and a foal started wailing.

 _What the hay is he doing in Princess Flurry Heart's room?_ Silver thought, following him and slightly opening the door so he could see and hear.

"Aww, little Princess Flurry Heart" Honor cooed mockingly, "Did I wake you up from your nap? Here, this will help you sleep."

Honor pulled the knife out of its sheath with his magic and held it over Flurry Heart's crib, and Silver put his hoof over his mouth to keep Honor from hearing his gasp.

"Good night, _Princess_." Honor snarled, starting to lower the knife.

"NO!" Silver cried, flying into the room and tackling Honor as hard as he could.

Honor yelped in surprise and pain, and released the knife. He went flying, and the knife fell harmlessly to the floor.

"Honor, what in Equestria are you _doing?!_ " Silver asked.

As Honor was getting up, he noticed that the left shoulder guard on Honor's armor had been knocked askew. Marked on to his flesh was a cracked skull with two crossed swords behind it, the same mark Princess Luna had shown him at the meeting.

"You...You're one of them. You're with Deadly Sin." Silver said in disbelief.

" _What?"_ Honor said, getting to his hooves.

"That mark on your shoulder. Heavens to Celestia... _that's_ how Deadly Sin and the monsters knew how to break through our defenses and where we all were. You told them. You're a spy." Silver realized.

Honor looked down at his left shoulder and adjusted his armor, then looked up at Silver and smirked.

"Yes, I am. I've been a soldier in Lord Sin's ranks for a long time. In fact, I happen to be one of his highest ranking officers, not just _second lieutenant_." Honor spat.

"You traitor! Why?!" Silver asked, devastated to one of his best friends become seduced to the darkness.

"Why?! Because I never wanted to be a part of the Royal Guard!" Honor snapped, "When I was a young colt, I was playing ball at the park with my childhood friends, when one of them threw the ball too far. I ran after it and chased through the woods, only to stumble across a group of Royal Guards and their commander. Their commander yelled at me, telling me that it was a restricted area, and that I should know how to read and stay out. I told him I was just retrieving my friends ball, and he popped it and continued to yell at me, calling me names and other insults. He gave them the popped ball back, and told me to keep it as a reminder that I would never be good enough for the Guard. And I as ran back to my friends, I swore to myself that I would never become a Guardsman."

"A few years later, I spotted one of my friends being bullied on the playground. I was a lot like you at the time-stubborn, spirited, wanting to defend my friends no matter what the cost. I quickly stepped in to aid her, counter her bully's every remark with dignity and passion. And guess what appeared on my flank?"

Honor looked dejectly at his Cutie Mark and shook his head in disgust.

"I tried to fight it," Honor continued, "I tried to take up every skill I could think of, assuring myself that it was just a mistake, surely I wasn't destined to become part of the thing I loathed most of all. But in the end, all I did was fail at everything. Everypony told me that I should be proud of it-my "friends", my teachers, my parents, even Princess Celestia when I asked her to change my Cutie Mark. And then I realized just how broken Equestria is, if we celebrate what a pony's destiny is rather than give them the path that they want, and worship princesses who are supposed to be gods, but in reality are useless and weak. I spent years in depression, counting down the days until I could retire and live out the rest of my miserable life, until one night, in my dreams, a voice told me it could help me if I came to the Great Stormy Mountains. I followed the voice, and I met Lord Sin. He gave me an offer I couldn't refuse-if I served him and helped in rid Equestria of all its weakness, he'd give me what I wanted most of all-a change in my destiny."

"You're a fool. Deadly Sin will destroy Equestria!" Silver said.

"Good. Something that's rotten needs to be destroyed in order for rebirth to happen-a new, better age." Honor snarled.

"I can't believe you're doing this. You said you were loyal to the Guard. You helped teach me how to be a good soldier. I thought you were my friend." Silver cried.

"I lied about where my loyalties lie. As for our friendship, nothing has to change. You could join us." Honor said.

" _What? ME_ join _you?_ " Silver asked incredulously.

Honor nodded and said, "I know you, Silver. I know what your heart's desire is, what you would give anything to have. You want your family and childhood friends back. My Lord Sin is very powerful-more powerful than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna combined. He could bring your parents and your friends back from the grave. All you have to do is renounce the Royal Guard and swear your loyalty to us."

Honor held out his hoof to shake, and Silver hesitated tears forming in his eyes.

 _My friends, alive again..._ he thought, _My parents...I'd get to have them back. I'd be able to hold my mom again and feel my dad's hoof in my mane again…_

Then, Silver remembered what would happen if he did shake. He saw Canterlot, his beautiful home, burning to ashes and ponies screaming as they died by the thousands at Deadly Sin's hooves, the streets painted in blood. He remembered Shining Armor and Cadance, who were like the brother and sister he'd always wanted. Princess Celestia, who gave him a new home and a purpose in life when he'd lost everything. Princess Luna, who understood his pain in ways no other pony he'd met did. Princess Twilight and her friends, his new friends. And Snowflake-sweet, beautiful Snowflake Swirl, who'd stolen his heart the night they first met.

 _I have family and friends here._ Silver realized, _I don't need an evil sorcerer to bring the ponies I lost back, especially if it means destroying everything to see them again._

"No." Silver snapped.

" _No?!"_ Honor asked, shocked, "Silver, I'm offering you a chance to see your family and friends again!"

"You really don't know me all that well, then. I have friends and family here in Canterlot that I wouldn't want to see destroyed. And while I do have ambition, I also have honor, so I won't destroy the world to bring back my parents and old friends!" Silver cried defiantly.

"Then it looks like I'll be forced to destroy you." Honor snarled, and then leaped at Silver.

Silver flew out of the launched a flying tackle, slamming Honor against the wall. Honor kicked Silver with both of his hooves, making Silver fall the floor. Honor threw himself on top of Silver and kicked and jabbed at him. Silver cried out in pain and headbutted Honor, stunning him for long enough for Silver to throw him off.

Honor recovered quickly and saw Silver flying at him. Honor used a spell and Silver, and Silver screamed as he heard a snapping sound somewhere in his body and a sharp jolt of pain rocked through it.

Silver collapsed to the floor, and Honor said, "Aww, poor Silver. Can't fly on broken wings, can you?"

Silver climbed to his hooves and charged at Honor by hoof, then punching Honor's head as hard as he could. Honor stumbled, but held his ground and kicked at Silver's ribs.

Silver tackled him and punched Honor over and over, making Honor grunt in pain. Honor used his magic to retrieve his lost knife and jabbed in Silver's side.

Silver howled, and Honor headbutted him to force Honor off. He tried to take a jab at Silver's heart, but Silver rolled out of the way and kicked his head.

Honor tried to cut Silver multiple times, forcing Silver to retreat in to avoid being cut. Honor managed to lacerate Silver multiple times, backing him up against a wall. Silver dodged as best he could, but Honor was fast and had more energy than him, since he wasn't bleeding from multiple spots.

Silver suddenly noticed that he was standing next to a large bookshelf, and when Honor tried to stab him again, Silver shoved the bookshelf on him. Honor was crushed by the bookshelf, and Silver heard him cry out as it slammed into his head.

As Honor was getting the bookshelf off of him, Silver remembered a lesson he'd been taught at the academy: _if you don't have an armory weapon and need to defend yourself, you can make almost anything into a weapon. A good soldier's best weapon is always his mind._

Honor threw the bookshelf and got to his hooves, but before he could recover, Silver threw a lamp at him, which struck Honor in the head and made him stumble. Silver started throwing everything he could get his hooves at Honor-a pitcher, a baby bottle, a fire extinguisher, a stroller, and a few large baby toys.

With every heavy object that hit him, Honor had a harder time getting back to hooves. Eventually he collapsed, and Silver pounced on him.

"If you're going to kill me, just do it." Honor moaned, leering at him.

"I can't and I won't." Silver said, "It's against the Royal Guard's Code of Honor, and my moralities, to kill another pony."

Silver took off his helmet and raised it, "I can, however, knock you out."

Silver should've been able to knock Honor out with one blow. But since he was weakened by blood loss, it took Silver five hits before Honor finally passed out.

Silver rolled off of Honor's unconscious body and struggled to his hooves, amazed he was still alive. He then heard Flurry Heart wailing from her crib and ran over to her, peeking inside her crib.

Flurry was crying heavily and her diaper was yellow and super smelly, but she was alive and unharmed.

Silver smiled down at Flurry Heart, relieved that his captain's and surrogate brother's foal daughter was safe.

"You'll be alright now, Princess." Silver moaned, struggling to stand up, "I'll guard you until I die. Of course, given how much blood I'm losing, I may not last very long. But...at least I'll die knowing I saved your life. You deserve the chance to grow up and become a great leader, just like your mom and dad and your aunt."

"Silver Storm?" A voice down the hall called, "Honor Medallion? Princess Twilight? Anypony?"

"Flash?" Silver called weakly.

"Lieutenant Silver Storm? Is that you?" Flash Sentry asked.

"Yes. I'm in Flurry Heart's room. She's safe." Silver reported.

Footsteps raced down the hallway towards Silver, and Flash opened the door and entered the room, then froze when he saw the mess, Honor's unconscious body, and Silver heavily bleeding.

"What in Equestria happened?!" Flash exclaimed.

"Honor Medallion did this. He's on Deadly Sin's side. He's a spy. He told Sin's troops how to get through our defenses and where everypony was. He tried to kill Flurry Heart, but I stopped him. We got in a fight and I won, but...he stabbed me and cut me." Silver moaned.

Silver stumbled, and said, "Flash, I need you to get Flurry Heart to her parents and get out of here."

"No, I'm not leaving you." Flash said defiantly.

"I'm probably not going to make it, Flash. I've lost a lot of blood. I'll just slow everypony down. As your commanding officer, I order to you to take Princess Flurry Heart to her parents, evacuate, and leave me here." Silver commanded.

Flash grabbed Flurry Heart from her crib, wrinkling his nose at the smell of her diaper, and then hoisted Silver onto his back.

"What are you doing? You're disobeying an order from a high-ranking officer." Silver complained.

"The Royal Guard's Code of Honor tells us to disobey any order that goes against the code. And since the code says to never leave a guardsman behind, I have the right to disobey you. So, no, I'm not leaving you here to die."

Silver smiled weakly and grabbed on to Flash's body.

"Thank you, Flash." Silver mumbled.

Flash nodded and took flight, carrying Flurry in his arms and Silver on his back as he raced to Captain Shining Armor and the others.

Twilight was beginning to run out of breath and energy from running for so long and fighting off monsters. She needed rest, but she knew she had to keep moving. She and her friends turned a corner and a pair of familiar voices called out to her.

"TWILIGHT!"

Twilight turned and saw Shining Armor and Cadence standing to her left, looking just as exhausted and beaten up as her.

Twilight ran over to them and hugged them, relieved beyond words that her brother and sister-in-law were both alive.

"Are you guys okay? Are you hurt?" Twilight asked eventually, pulling away from them.

"We're both okay, just a bit exhausted. What about you all?" Cadence asked.

"We're all okay, too. Well, most of us." Twilight said, wincing as she looked back at Laurel, who was lagging behind and falling over from severe exhaustion.

"What happened? Was she poisoned by a basilisk?" Shining Armor asked as he and Cadence ran over to her.

Laurel was too out of breath to answer, so Starlight said, "She has severe magical drainage. She used a lot of powerful spells in order to defend herself and get us out of the situation we were caught in."

"Well, we're glad we found you all." Shining said.

"We found a hidden tunnel that goes under the castle that we can use to escape. We'll be safe once we get out of here." Cadence said.

"What about Flurry Heart? And Princess Celestia and Luna?" Twilight asked.

"And Silver and the others?" Snowflake asked.

Shining and Cadence looked pained and anxious, revealing for the first time how scared they truly were.

"We...we received word that Princesses Celestia and Luna were captured by Deadly Sin's forces. And since we're too low on strength and unprepared to face Deadly Sin, we need to evacuate and plan our next move. As for Flurry Heart, Honor Medallion, and Silver Storm, we sent Flash Sentry and Discord to look for them." Shining said, trying to sound brave.

Right on cue, Discord came back looking glum.

"I...I couldn't find your daughter or the missing ponies anywhere, Captain. I'm sorry." Discord said solemnly.

Shining and Cadence looked alarmed, and Twilight said, "I'm sure Flash will find them. They'll be fine."

"CAPTAIN!" A panicked voice shouted from down the other side of the hallway over the sound of a screaming foal.

Flash came zooming in with Flurry Heart in his arms and a badly wounded Silver on his back, looking like he was going to pass out at any minute.

"Flurry!" Shining and Cadence cried in relief as the ran for their daughter.

"Silver!" Snowflake cried in a panic, rushing to catch Silver as he slid off of Flash's back.

The other ponies attentions quickly switched from Flurry to Silver when they realized how serious his condition was.

"What happened?! Did the monsters get you?" Shining Armor asked.

"No…" Silver moaned, "It was Honor Medallion. He betrayed us all."

" _What?"_ Everypony and Discord asked.

"Honor's in league with Deadly Sin. He has the mark of his followers on his left shoulder. He told Deadly Sin all our weak points and where the princesses were located. I saw him sneaking away from the battle carrying a knife and smirking, so I followed him, and I caught him about to murder Flurry Heart. We got in a fight and I won, but...well...you can see what happened to me." Silver explained.

"I can't believe it…" Shining said in shock.

"Did Honor say _why_ he's doing it?" Twilight asked.

"He didn't want to be part of the Guard. Sin promised to change his destiny if Honor fought for him." Silver explained.

The other ponies started asking questions until Evergreen piped up, "Everypony, stop! Can't you see he's seriously wounded?! Answering questions is just going to drain him even more, and from the looks of things, he's already lost a lot of blood. We need to find a safe place _now_ if we're to give him any chance of survival."

The other ponies nodded in understanding, and Cadence and Shining Armor removed a large portion of the floor to reveal a large hole that lead to a tunnel.

"Here's our way out. Everypony, you go first. We'll cover you." Cadence said, standing by the entrance.

"But what about Silver?" Snowflake asked, tears trailing down her face.

"I'll carry him." Shining said, lifting Silver up with his magic.

Silver smiled weakly at him and said, "Kind of like how we first met."

Shining smiled sadly and said, "Yeah, you're right."

"What are you talking about?" Starlight asked.

"I'll explain later. You ponies need to go. We'll be right behind you." Shining said.

"Twilight, can you carry Flurry Heart?" Cadence asked.

Twilight nodded and took Flurry from her, and then jumped into the hole and took off down the tunnel, hearing the rapid hoofsteps of her friends behind her.

A little while later, she heard a last pair of hooves land in the tunnel, and the sound of tile sliding against tile.

"How far does this tunnel go?" Evergreen asked, sounding terrified.

"I'm not sure. Why?" Cadence asked.

"His worst fear is being underground." Scarlet said.

"You couldn't have told us that sooner?!" Rainbow snapped.

"It's the only way to escape. I had to risk it." Evergreen said timidly.

"Why are you afraid of being underground?" Discord asked.

"Dunno. It's just something I was born with." Evergreen confessed.

"Look, I see a light up ahead! Or am I seeing things because I'm exhausted?" Laurel cried.

"No, you're right." Twilight said, relieved.

She and her friends ran up a small hill and popped out of a hole not far from the west side of the castle. The palace was crumbling and engulfed in flames, filling Twilight and the other ponies with despair and heartbreak.

"Look!" a voice cried, "They're getting away!"

Twilight and her friends suddenly spotted a group of monsters not far away who'd noticed their escape.

"Squak! Get them!" A harpy cried.

The monsters roared and charged. The ponies ran as fast they could on their tired legs, but the beasts were soon on their heels and closing in.

"We'll never make it like this!" Laurel realized, grunting and firing up a spell.

"LAUREL, NO!" Evergreen and Twilight cried.

But it was too late. A bright golden light surrounded the group of ponies, and in the blink of an eye, they were in a clearing in a woods somewhere with a large lake in front of them. The ponies skidded to a stop just as Laurel's legs buckled and she collapsed along with Silver, both completely unconscious.


	7. Aftershocks

Chapter 7-Aftershocks

Everypony overcame their shock and started panicking when Laurel and Silver went unconscious. They crowded around both of them, shouting and bickering over what to do.

"STOP!" Evergreen roared, pushing through the crowd.

"Everypony, back off! They need air, and you crowding around them isn't going to help. I'm the only one here who's trained in advanced medicine, so I'll take care of healing Silver." Evergreen ordered.

"What about Laurel?" Starlight asked.

"You remember how to make the energy restoring medicine, right?" Evergreen asked, turning to Scarlet.

Scarlet nodded nervously and said, "I...I think so."

Evergreen opened his bag and pulled out a lot of berries, flowers, and a few powders, and then a roll of parchment.

"Here, these are the herbs you need, and this scroll has the instructions to make it in case you forget." Evergreen said, giving the bundle, "Make sure she drinks all of it and doesn't move a bunch for an hour."

"Drink _all_ of it? You've never made us drink that much before!" Cupid cried.

"Because none of us have ever been as worn out as she is now. It won't hurt her, I promise." Evergreen said.

"Alright," Scarlet said, "I'll make sure she drinks every last drop and doesn't move unless she needs to turn her head to talk."

"I'm also going to need three ponies to volunteer to give up a pint of their blood to replenish Silver's. Is anyone willing?" Evergreen asked.

"I'll do it!" Snowflake said immediately.

"Can unicorn blood go into pegasi?" Twilight asked hesitantly.

"Only if she's the only unicorn that donates. The other two have to be pegasi." Evergreen said.

"Only pegasi? I was hoping I could give some of my blood to pay him back for saving my daughter." Cadence said.

Evergreen thought for a second and said, "No, I'm afraid you can't. You may have wings, but you're still mostly a unicorn. If Silver was a unicorn, that would work, but that much magic in the bloodstream of a pegasi would kill him. Are there any pegasi willing to give blood?" Evergreen asked.

"I'll...I'll give some." Cupid piped up, "Silver nearly gave his life to save Flurry Heart, and we need to save him. I'll give up my blood to save his life."

"Alright, we need one more pony." Evergreen said.

"Can earth ponies give blood to pegasi?" Applejack asked.

"Applejack? You're willing?" Scarlet asked.

"I really admire Silver's brave heart. And I don't want to see him die, especially if it'll leave a pony brokenhearted." Applejack said, looking at Snowflake, "Plus, wanting to help is in my nature."

"Yes, earth ponies can give to pegasi. And are you sure all 3 of you are willing?" Evergreen asked.

Applejack, Cupid, and Snowflake nodded, and Evergreen used a special needle attached by a tube to a pouch to collect blood from the 3 of them.

He then carried Silver a little ways away and used his magic to create a canopy out of vines, trees, bushes, and other plants.

While Scarlet started making the medicine for Laurel, Twilight heard sniffles coming from somewhere to her left.

She and her friends turned to see Snowflake trying and failing to hold back tears.

"Darling, what's wrong?" Rarity asked as she and the rest of the group except Scarlet walked over.

"I...I'm scared. What if he doesn't make it?" Snowflake said her voice wavering.

Shining Armor looked pained, and everyone else as anxious and Snowflake, but they still tried to reassure her.

"I'm sure Silver will be fine, Snowflake," Scarlet said gently, "Evergreen's a good healer."

"How do you know he'll be fine?" Snowflake said, openly sobbing, "Honor Medallion hurt him so badly. What if he's too far gone?"

"You, Cupid, and Applejack gave him the blood he needs to recover, and he passed out just a few minutes ago. Not to mention, since he's a Royal Guard, he's super strong. I'm sure he'll be okay." Starlight said.

"I hope you're right, Starlight." Shining said, "I may never get the chance to apologize to him."

"For what?" Twilight asked.

"I talked to Silver about his outburst like I said I would," Shining confessed, "But I was way too hard on him. I said to him that if he doesn't learn to reign himself in, he's going to get kicked out of the Guard." Shining confessed.

Cadence gasped and cried, "Shining!"

"I know, it was wrong. Being part of the Royal Guard means everything to Silver, and I threatened to take it away from him. I was super stressed about the impending emergency, and I took it out on him. Still, it's no excuse. I need to tell him I'm sorry for being such an ass, but...if doesn't make it, I'll never get the chance."

"Why does being part of the Royal Guard mean so much to Silver?" Funny Bone asked.

"It gave him a second chance at life after he _literally_ lost everything." Shining said sadly.

"What do you mean by that?" Rainbow asked.

"I think it would be best if we let Silver explain. It's his story." Cadence said.

"I agree. I think he'd be pretty pissed if we told it for him." Shining mumbled, his head down.

Cadence put her arm around him and said, "I'm sure that if he makes it, he'll forgive you."

A moaning from the other direction took everypony's attention, to find that Laurel was waking up, her golden eyes fluttering open.

"What...what's going on?" Laurel groaned, "Where are we?"

"We don't know," Twilight said, as the other ponies gathered around her, "But we're all glad you're okay."

"I'm sorry I used magic when you and Evergreen told me not to." Laurel said.

"Well, as much as I was worried about you Laurel, what I really feel like doing right now is thanking you." Twilight said.

"Thanking me? I could've killed my self." Laurel mumbled.

"I know. But that last bit of magic you used to teleport us all here saved our lives. So, thanks for saving us." Twilight said.

Laurel smiled weakly and said, "You're welcome."

Scarlet pushed a bowl with a royal blue liquid to Laurel and said, "Laurel, I need you to drink the other half of this. Evergreen said you have to."

"Drink all of it? Evergreen's normally given us only half that much." Laurel said.

"None of us have ever been as exhausted as you are now. You got so exhausted you passed out." Scarlet said, nudging the bowl.

Laurel grunted and tried to make her horn glow until everypony else told her to stop.

"I admire your perseverance...Laurel Wreath, was it?" Discord asked.

"Yes." Laurel said weakly.

"Well Laurel, since you just had a brush with death, I don't think it would be a good idea to use any magic until you're feeling back to 100% normal." Discord finished.

Laurel paused and said, "...That's actually really good advice. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome." Discord said as Scarlet put the bowl up to Laurel's lips.

Laurel drank until the bowl was completely empty, and then tried to rise to her feet.

"Laurel, wait! Evergreen said not to move for an hour!" Starlight cried.

Laurel huffed and laid back down, and then looked around her eyes went wide.

"I know this place! This is Salvation Lake, outside of Fillydelphia!" Laurel cried.

"Why's it called Salvation Lake?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because it saved the lives and crops of some farming ponies from two hundred years ago. Right where we're standing, there used to be a farming village here, one of the most successful ones in all Equestria, in fact, because of all the rain that came during the spring and summer. But then one year, the rain didn't come at all. The townspeople waited all spring and summer, but not a single drop fell from the ski. The food they produced was much smaller and less abundant than it had been. And then the drought continued for three years. The soil became so hard and dry that it was impossible to plant or plow, and all the plants dried up and withered away. There was another river where many ponies tried to find water to give to their plants and families, but it was so far away and so hot that ponies collapsed before they could make it to the river, and there was no town close by with enough water to help them. Ponies ended up dying of dehydration, hunger, and overheating. And then, one night, a miracle happened. A giant meteorite made its way through the atmosphere and crashed near the village. The force of the impact created a huge dent in the ground and several large cracks. One of the cracks traveled eastward until it broke off part of a cliff and made a waterfall. The waterfall turned the cracks into a river, and then the river filled up the hole, which made a lake. The ponies began using the lake and river water for drinking and watering their fields, and by the time the following summer ended, the crops were bigger, tastier, and more plentiful than anything they'd ever seen. Word spread throughout the land about the miracle lake, and more ponies came and settled in the town, until it became the bustling metropolis it is today. The original settlers named the lake Salvation Lake and the river Miracle River after the extraordinary event that saved their home and lifestyle. If that meteorite hadn't landed where it did, Fillydelphia wouldn't exist. And the weirdest part is, Princess Celestia didn't cause it to happen. No pony's sure why the meteor fell out of the sky and why it landed where it did. It was just a miracle." Laurel explained.

"That _is_ weird." Rainbow Dash said, "Cool, but weird."

"Hmm, now that you mention, I _do_ recall hearing the story at some point." Discord said.

"How? You were a statue." Scarlet asked.

"Just because I couldn't move doesn't mean I couldn't hear." Discord pointed out.

"How'd you know the story?" Starlight asked.

"My parents used to take me on business trips here. One day they let me go explore the city on my own for a bit, so I went to the Fillydelphia Museum, and learned the story there." Laurel said, "I also learned that there's a legend that the lake is enchanted to bring good fortune and healing to all those who use its water." Laurel said.

"So if Silver drinks the water...he'll get better?" Snowflake asked, tears running down her face.

Laurel's eyes went wide, and she exclaimed, "That's right! Sweet Celestia, is he going to be okay?!"

"We don't know. Evergreen's working on him now, but we're not sure how it's going." Twilight said sadly.

"Ah," Laurel said, looking pained.

She turned to Snowflake and noticed how emotional she was.

"You've grown attached to him, haven't you?" Laurel asked her.

Snowflake nodded and began sobbing again. Laurel pulled her down into a half hug, and the other ponies and Discord crowded around them, holding Snowflake and trying to reassure her as best they could.

About ten minutes later, Evergreen emerged from his nature-made tent, and ran over when he saw that Laurel was awake.

"How's Silver?" Snowflake asked.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay?" Evergreen asked, not hearing Snowflake.

"I'm fine." Laurel said.

"How's Silver?" Shining asked, more forcefully.

"Are you sure you're alright? No headache, no hallucinations, no shortness of breath?" Evergreen asked.

"Evergreen, really, I'm fine." Laurel said, "But-!"

"Thank goodness," Evergreen breathed, leaning in close to Laurel face, "I was so scared when you passed out. If I lost you…"

"Evergreen," Laurel said patiently but firmly, "What about Silver Storm?"

"Oh, right!" Evergreen cried, pulling back, "Sorry, I can be super forgetful. Silver's fine. He made it through. As long as he doesn't strain himself, he'll live."

"Can...can we see him?" Snowflake asked, tears running down her face.

"He's asleep. I had to give him a bit of drug to make him stay unconscious so that he wouldn't feel any pain while I was working on him." Evergreen said.

"Snowflake, Cupid, Applejack, thank you for so generously giving up your blood. Silver would've died if you hadn't." he added.

"Thank _you_ for saving his life." Cadence said, grinning and crying.

Evergreen shrugged and said, "Well, it's what healers do."

"When will Silver wake up?" Shining asked.

"In about ten minutes." Evergreen asked, "So, did anypony figure out where we are?"

"Salvation Lake. It's outside of Fillydelphia. And it's enchanted!" Pinkie said, bouncing up and down.

"Enchanted?" Evergreen asked.

Laurel told Evergreen the story of the origins of the lake and the river that flowed through it. When she was done, Evergreen looked out at the lake and said, "I hope the legend that the lake's enchanted is right. We could really use some good fortune right now."

Everypony and Discord nodded solemnly, and Scarlet asked the question that was on everyone's minds, "What are we going to do now?"

Everypony looked at Cadence and Twilight, expecting them to have answers. Cadence looked uncomfortable, and Twilight felt her vocal chords turning into gunk.

"W-well…" Twilight said, trying to sound leaderlike, "We definitely can't go back to Canterlot. So we're going to have to take refuge here and plan for how we're going to win the war. Preferably without killing anypony."

"That's impossible." Laurel said.

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked.

"I've read a lot about the wars Equestria faced. Not one of them was won without death and bloodshed." Laurel explained.

"I'm afraid Laurel's right," Shining said, "In the Royal Guard Academy, our drill sergeants drilled a lesson into our heads from the very first day-in wartime, it's either kill or be killed."

"So, we're all going to have to become murderers?" Rarity asked.

Shining Armor took a deep breath and said, "If it means stopping Deadly Sin, rescuing Celestia and Luna, and saving Equestria, then yes, we're going to have to kill our enemies. We all have to become soldiers, not just ordinary ponies. And while that may make us murderers, and we will have blood on our hooves forever, it's a sacrifice we'll have to make if we're going to win this war."

Everypony looked horrified, and Funny Bone looked like he was going to be sick.

"I'm sorry to place this burden on your shoulders, but it's the grim reality of war." Shining said, "If Silver were awake, he'd agree with me on this."

"But...but we'll all survive this, won't we?" Twilight asked, trying to stay optimistic.

"I'm afraid I don't know, Twilight. In war, there's usually heavy losses on both sides. But the side that loses less usually wins the war. And right now, our odds aren't looking to great. We're going to need more allies." Shining said grimly.

"Where are we going to get support from? Deadly Sin's taken over all of Canterlot, and assuming his tactics from the first Great Pony War haven't changed, he's hypnotized all the citizens who survived the attack into become his soldiers. We won't be able to contact anypony in Canterlot without giving ourselves away." Laurel asked.

"Oh," Flash said sadly, "I was hoping we could sneak back into whatever's left of the castle and swipe any supplies that look they might be in tact. Food, weapons, armor, that sort of thing."

"That's a good thought, Flash, but I'm afraid that until we're strong enough to stand hoof to hoof with Deadly Sin, going back to Canterlot is suicide." Shining said.

A moaning came from inside Evergreen's impromptu tent, and everypony rushed towards it with Snowflake at the lead.

The ponies rushed inside to find Silver awake and looking around, confused.

"Silver." Snowflake whimpered.

Silver looked at her and asked groggily, "Snowflake? Where are we?"

"Salvation Lake. It's outside of Fillydelphia." Twilight said.

"Fillydelphia? That's pretty far from Canterlot. How long was I out?" Silver asked.

"Only a few hours. Laurel used her last bit of magic to teleport us here." Cadence said, her face full of relief.

"Oh, that's what that golden flash of light was? I thought I was hallucinating." Silver said.

"I'm glad you're okay, Silver," Shining said, sitting down next to him, "I wanted to apologize."

"For what?" Silver asked.

"For threatening to remove you from the Guard. It was a dick move of me to suggest that because I know how much being part of the Royal Guard means to you. I was stressed about the imminent attack on Canterlot, and I took it out on you. I'm really sorry." Shining said, bowing his head.

"Apology accepted." Silver said, smiling weakly.

"And we both wanted to thank you for putting your life on the line to save Flurry Heart." Cadence said.

"You're welcome." Silver said.

"Why _were_ you so willing to give up your life to save Flurry Heart's?" Shining asked.

"Your daughter deserves the chance to grow up and become a great leader. And besides, I owe you a debt." Silver explained.

Shining's eyes filled with tears, and he whispered, "After all this time...you still consider yourself indebted to me?"

"You saved my life, Captain. You and Princess Celestia. I would've died if you hadn't saved me that day." Silver said.

"Yeah, you guys keep mentioning that Shining saved Silver somehow after he lost everything? What does that all mean? What happened to Silver?" Twilight asked.

Silver frowned and painfully turned towards Shining, despite Evergreen protesting.

"You never told her?" Silver moaned.

"It's your story, Silver. I was waiting for her to meet you so that you could tell her yourself. I figured you'd be pretty mad if I told her for you." Shining explained.

"Well, I guess you deserve to hear the story." Silver said.

"Now? Are you sure?" Cadence asked.

Silver nodded and said, "I trust these ponies. They have the right to know."

Silver took a deep breath and asked, "When you all were little, did you ever hear of a town called Appleby?""

All the ponies shook their heads and Silver said, "I'm not surprised. Appleby wasn't very well known. It was a small rural town maybe 5 miles west of the Smoky Mountains. But it was where I was born and raised until the incident."

 _I was only a colt when it happened. Back then, Appleby was a lovely little town where everypony knew everypony and we were all as close as kin. I lived in a old wooden house with my parents and two siblings, and I was friends with pretty much everypony my age, and everyday we went into the woods outside the village to play together._

 _The day of the incident started out just like every other day, having breakfast with my siblings and then rushing out meet my friends by the tree we always met at. We spent all day playing hide and seek, tag, truth or dare, climbing trees, and swimming in the lake. Eventually, sunset came and all my friends went home, but I stayed behind, determined to get this flying trick that I saw another pegasus in my town do right._

 _And then, out of nowhere, streaks of lime green light pierced the sky and landed in our village. I thought it was some sort of strange meteor shower until I started hearing explosions, roars and screaming coming from my town and I smelled smoke._

 _I flew as fast as I could back to find that we were under attack by some spirits that had the shape of ponies, but they were made of green fire and had glowing white eyes. They were setting all of the buildings on fire and killing everypony in horrific ways-burning them alive, ripping their heads off, and literally tearing them apart._

" _MOM?!" I called, "DAD?!"_

" _Silver!" my mom cried from the house._

" _MOM!" I yelled, flying as fast as I could towards our burning house._

" _SILVER, RUN!" my dad cried._

 _And just then, one of the spirits burst through the window of my house and came at me. I tried running from it dodging all the fireballs it threw at me, but it was too fast._

 _The thing caught me by my tail and beat me, burned me, and tore off parts of my flesh. I tried fighting it off, but it was trying to wrestle with fire._

 _When it had hurt me to the point of nearly passing out it grabbed me by the tail again and threw me into a collapsed house. Thankfully, I passed out before I crashed through the roof and landed on the floor. But to this day, I'm still not sure why that thing didn't come after me and finish me off. I guess it thought I would die after a while, so there'd be no point._

 _When I woke up, I surrounded by darkness and the smell of smoke, and my whole body was in pain. I thought I was dead for a second, and then I heard ponies voices._

" _-in Equestria do you think happened?" a voice asked._

" _Judging by the state of the buildings and the ponies bodies, I'd say a fire broke out and it spiraled out of control because of all the wood houses." another voice said._

" _I don't think that's the case." a third voice chimed in, "Look at the body of this guy here. A fire wouldn't decapitate a pony like that. And this pony over here was torn apart. Fire couldn't do that, either. So most likely this was some kind of massacre."_

" _But who would orchestrate an attack on a small town like...whatever this place is called?" the second voice._

" _Help…" I croaked._

" _I'm not sure, but-" the third voice said._

" _Help!" I yelled, "Somepony, help me please!"_

" _Lieutenant, did you hear that?" the first voice cried._

" _HELP!"_

" _Yeah, I hear it. Where's it coming from?" the third voice asked._

" _It sounds like it came from in here!" the second voice said._

 _I heard clattering sounds, and then the third voice said, "Don't just stand there! Help me dig!"_

" _Yes, sir!" the two other voices cried._

 _The clattering sound became louder, and then I was suddenly blinded by harsh sunlight._

" _Heavens to Celestia, it's a colt!" the first voice said._

 _I looked up to see a gray pegasus with a black mane, a white pegasus with gray mane, and a white unicorn with a royal blue mane looking down at me shock. I recognized their armor as the Royal Guard's armor, so I let myself relax._

" _Lieutenant, what should we do?" the grey pegasus asked._

 _The white unicorn turned serious and said, "Get to Princess Celestia immediately. Tell her we've found a survivor. And then keep searching to see if you can find any other survivors."_

" _Yes, sir!" the pegasi said, saluting the white unicorn and then flying away._

 _Then he turned back to me and looked at me sadly._

" _You okay, kid?" he asked._

" _Everything hurts…" I whimpered._

" _I can see why. Hold still, I'll get this rubble off your back legs." the unicorn said._

 _He used his magic to get all the broken wood and stone off of me, and then used it again to pick me up._

" _You're going to be okay now, kid." he said._

 _I nodded and said, "Thank you."_

" _Of course!" the unicorn said as he carried me somewhere, "What's your name, kid?"_

" _Silver Storm." I moaned._

" _That's a good name. It suits you. I'm Shining Armor. I'm the second lieutenant of the Royal Guard." Shining Armor said._

" _Second Lieutenant? Wow." I whispered._

 _Shining laughed and said, "Thanks, Silver. Can I call you Silver?"_

 _I nodded and said, "This town's called Appleby, by the way."_

" _What?" Shining asked._

" _I heard the conversation you and the other two guards were having. This town is called Appleby because of all the apple trees that grow around the town." I said._

" _Ah. That's an interesting town name. Oh, there she is! Princess Celestia!" Shining Armor said, suddenly taking off into a run._

 _I cried out at the motion that was making my wounds worse, and Shining stopped and said, "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"_

" _No…" I whimpered, tears running down my face._

" _Did you need something, Shining Armor?" Celestia asked._

 _Shining nodded and said, "I'm assuming Thunderhoof and Winter Gust told you about the colt we found?"_

" _Yes." Celestia said._

 _Shining gave me to her and said, "This is him. He says his name's Silver Storm."_

 _Celestia gasped and looked down at me, her eyes filled with tears._

" _Oh, poor colt. Poor, sweet, colt." Celestia whispered._

" _Princess Celestia?" I asked, "Is my family okay? What were those things that attacked us?"_

 _Celestia took a deep breath and said, "I'm not sure what happened here, Silver Storm. As for your family...it's probably best that I tell you later. Right now, you need rest. Sleep well, Silver Storm."_

 _Celestia put her horn on my head, and I instantly fell asleep…_

"When I woke up, I was in a hospital in Canterlot being treated for my wounds. Princess Celestia came in one day and told me that my town had been destroyed and everypony had been murdered. I was the sole survivor out of the 500 ponies that lived in my town. My parents, my siblings, my friends...they were all dead. Shining came in everyday and tried to cheer me up, but I was depressed and grieving. I'd lost everything, and I didn't what to do or what was going to happen to me. But as time went on, I realized that I _did_ know what to do. I wanted to become a member of the Royal Guard like Shining Armor. And when I realized that that's what I wanted, I made an oath to myself: _never again_. From that day forward, I was going to be Silver Storm the Royal Guard, defender of the weak, protector of the innocent, and liberator of the suffering. I would put my life on the line and fight tooth and nail to prevent anypony from suffering the way I suffered, and that's how I got my Cutie Mark. When I was released from the hospital, I found a loving family who was willing to adopt me and raise me as their son. And when I entered the Royal Guard Academy, Shining Armor acted as mentor and eventually become my surrogate big brother. The day I got initiated into the Guard was the best day of life-I knew I was going to make a difference in pony's lives. A few years later, I was promoted to second lieutenant, and then a few months ago, I was made first lieutenant for all my hard work. And that's my story." Silver finished.

He looked up to see everypony in tears, even Shining and Cadence, who had heard his story before.

"That explains so much…" Snowflake said amidst her tears, "Silver, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." Silver said, tears starting to form in his eyes, too, "Even though I'm grateful that it made me the pony I am today, I still wish there was something I could do to bring them back. But not even Princess Celestia herself can raise the dead."

"Honor tried to tempt me with it, though." Silver continued after taking a deep breath, "He said that if I fought with him for Deadly Sin, at the end of the war, Deadly Sin would bring back my family and friends. And thing is...I was tempted to say yes. Does that make me a bad soldier?"

"Normally I'd say yes, but since you've lost so much and been through so much pain, I'm going to say no." Shining said.

"Why did Honor Medallion betray us?" Starlight asked, "What does he want that he thinks Deadly Sin can give him?"

"A new Cutie Mark." Silver said.

Silver told the group what Honor had said about his backstory, and when he finished, he was starting to sweat.

"I think we're putting too much stress on Silver and everypony else. C'mon, let's get settled in for the night." Evergreen said.

"No, wait!" Silver cried as everypony was leaving, "Snowflake, stay with me, please."

Snowflake waited until everypony else had left and timidly said, "I-If you're thinking about, um...I don't think I'm quite ready to...uh...lose my-"

Silver realized what and burst out laughing, then started coughing, turning red in the face.

"Are you okay?" Snowflake asked, running over to him.

"I'm fine." Silver said, "But still, you honestly thought I wanted to have sex with you?! I'm not ready for that anymore than you are. And with the state I'm in, it would be virtually impossible to do it even if we both wanted to. I just want some company from somepony I admire. I could use some comfort after they day I've had, and forgive me if I'm wrong, but you look like you could use some downtime too. You look super stressed and almost as worn out as I feel."

"Yeah," Snowflake said, laying down to the right of Silver.

"You can lay on me if you want to." Silver said.

"I don't want to hurt you." Snowflake said.

"You won't. My knife wound is on the other side." Silver said gently.

"But what about your wing? Honor Medallion broke both of them, remember?" Snowflake asked.

"I think it'll be okay if you put your head on my shoulder." Silver said.

Snowflake nodded and put her head onto Silver's shoulder, and he breathed a sigh, his tense muscles relaxing. Snowflake breathed a sigh, too feeling herself relax as well. For a while they were still and silent, feeling the grass beneath them, the cool night breeze, and listening to the sound of each others breathing.

Finally, Silver broke the silence by asking, "So, since I told you that story about me, would you mind telling me a story about you?"

"What do you want to hear?" Snowflake asked.

"Hmm...how about the story of how you met Princess Twilight and her friends. I've been dying to know." Silver said.

Snowflake smiled and said, "Well, actually, that story begins with Laurel…"

"So _that's_ why the Elements of Disharmony suddenly started resurfacing." Silver said when Snowflake finished her story, "One popped up, and then all the others followed."

Snowflake nodded and said, "We're still not sure how the Dark Magic element activated, though. Maybe it sensed Deadly Sin's rise and came back to life? Or did Deadly Sin put new evil magic inside of it so it would be powered up and cause the others to follow suit so he could grow stronger? Either way, it's scary to think about."

Silver nodded and said, "Still, I think it's really cool how you guys are the second set of the Elements of Harmony. And it makes perfect sense, too. Laurel's an extremely powerful magician and seems to understand the other five perfectly, Evergreen's whole-heartedly loyal to the ponies he cares about, Cupid's super generous with her time, Funny Bone's a comedic actor and good at cheering ponies up, Scarlet's pretty much an open book, and you...you're the kindest, sweetest, gentlest, bravest, most amazing, most beautiful pony I've ever met."

Snowflake blushed and said, "Thank you. I think you're wonderful, Silver. You're brave, clever, sweet, strong, loyal, selfless, protective, and handsome. I'm glad I was able to give some of my blood to save you."

"Wait, what?" Silver asked.

"You lost a lot of blood from your wounds, so Evergreen said he needed three ponies to donate a pint of blood. I volunteered, so did Cupid and Applejack." Snowflake explained.

"You...gave up some of your blood...to save my life?" Silver asked, his eyes shining.

"Well, yeah. I-I care about you, a lot. And I wanted to thank you for saving Flurry Heart, so I figured this was the least I could do." Snowflake said.

"The least you could do?! Snowflake, you saved my life! I don't know how to thank you!" Silver cried.

Snowflake blushed and said, "You're welco-!"

She felt her face burn and her body tense as Silver painfully leaned over and kissed Snowflake on the cheek.

Silver grunted as he pulled away and moaned, "Sorry. Too much too fast?"

Snowflake reached up and kissed Silver's cheek, and felt him tense for a second and then relax and grin.

"Don't strain yourself anymore, okay? Evergreen said you need to rest."

Snowflake said gently.

"Yeah...Rest sounds...really good…" Silver said slowly, his eyes drooping.

Snowflake fell her eyes grow heavy, and used her magic to drag a blanket from Evergreen's bag onto them.

"Good night, Snowflake. Thank you for saving me." Silver mumbled, lowering his head onto the grass.

"Good night, Silver. And you're welcome." Snowflake said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Laurel awoke to the sun shining in her eyes, and reasoned that it must be around 8 in the morning. She had barely slept, seeing the attack replay itself over and over again whenever she closed her eyes. Every time, she woke up shaking and sweating in fear.

"Good morning," a voice said next to her.

Laurel turned and saw Evergreen standing next to her, dark rings contrasting against his green coat.

"Couldn't sleep?" Laurel asked.

Evergreen shook his head and said, "Keep having nightmares about the attack."

"Same." Laurel said glumly.

"Evergreen," Laurel said, her voice rising, "What are we going to do? Canterlot's fallen, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are at the mercy of Deadly Sin and his forces, we're outnumbered and have zero supplies, we don't know where Deadly Sin's going to strike next, and nopony has a plan or knows what our next step is! It all feels hopeless!"

"Laurel, don't say that," Evergreen said gently, "We'll figure something out. We just need to put our heads together and come up with a plan. This'll all be over soon-"

"No, it won't!" Laurel yelled, rising to her hooves, "This isn't some friendship problem that can be solved quickly and then move on from. This is _war!_ We're facing the most powerful being of evil that's ever threatened Equestria who's already succeeded in taking over the capital of our country! The stakes are higher than they've ever been, and if we make even the smallest mistake, it could cost us not just our lives, but the fall of the entire kingdom! Don't you see, Evergreen! Our entire world and everything we've ever known is hanging in the balance, and we've already nearly lost me and Silver Storm!"

Laurel bowed her head and started sobbing, mumbling, "I'm scared, Evergreen! I've more terrified than I've ever been in my life."

Evergreen pulled Laurel into a hug and started rubbing her back, trying to soothe her.

"Laurel, please don't be so pessimistic about this. I'm as aware of the stakes and all that's hanging in the balance, too. And frankly, I'm terrified, too. All of us are. But we can't abandon hope. You want to know why Equestria's stood for so long, and why we've won all the wars we fought in? It's because they didn't give up. They suffered, they lost battles and comrades, they felt despair and hopelessness and misery, but they kept getting back up and fighting until they won because they believed they could. They had something to fight for, something that made the bloodshed and losses worth it. We have something to fight for, Laurel. We're fighting for Equestria. And when all this is over, we'll be seen as heroes for what we did. If we give up on ourselves, we give up on Equestria and all that it stands for." Evergreen persuaded.

"But how can I help? I'm useless." Laurel said, drying her eyes.

Evergreen laughed gently and said, "You? Useless? Laurel, look at what you've done! You've performed spells that most unicorns can only dream of doing. Transfiguration? Do you have any idea how hard that is to do? You make it look like it's nothing. Not to mention, it was _your spell_ that helped us escape from Deadly Sin and his troops in Canterlot. You, Laurel Wreath, are _phenomenal_ , and I hope with everything in me that fighting in this war helps you see it."

"And we'll all be here to help you along the way." Twilight said, coming up behind Evergreen.

Laurel and Evergreen looked around to see that everypony else was awake and on their hooves, tears in their eyes. Discord even blew his nose with a handkerchief he pulled from nowhere.

"Sorry, did we wake you up?" Laurel said, looking embarrassed.

Starlight nodded and said, "I'm glad you did, though. Evergreen, that speech you made was beautiful. I feel so inspired and hopeful."

Everypony else nodded and said their agreements, and then Silver suddenly gasped from inside the tent.

"Silver?!" Snowflake cried, running back inside.

"Are you okay?" Evergreen asked, following her in with everypony else.

" _Yes!_ I just figured out how we can get more allies and supplies!" Silver cried.

"How?" Shining asked.

"Only Canterlot's been taken over by Deadly Sin, so we can messages to our friends in the other cities and towns, ask them to fight with us and bring things like food, weapons, and medicine if they can." Silver explained.

"Silver, that's brilliant!" Cadence cried, hugging him until he cried out.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said, pulling away, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Silver wheezed, his eyes watering.

"As much as I like Silver's plan, there's a slight problem with it." Scarlet said, "How are we going to send letters without them getting caught by Deadly Sin's forces? And how are we even going to write letters without ink, quills, or paper?"

Laurel opened her bag and pulled out notebooks, rolls of parchment, quills, and bottles of ink.

"I always carry paper, quills, and ink with me in case I ever needed to write something down. When the attack began, I grabbed as much as I could in case there was ever a time we'd need them. Now seems like a good time." Laurel explained when the others looked at her funny.

"Okay, that solves letter writing issue, but not how to send them." Scarlet said.

"You just leave that to me!" Spike said proudly, putting his thumb onto his chest, "I can magically send and receive letters from just about anywhere!"

"Even other countries? Like, across the ocean?" Laurel asked.

"Uh...I suppose so. Why?" Spike asked.

"Who are you trying to write to that lives an ocean away?" Snowflake asked.

"You guys remember Moon Jewel?" Laurel asked, smiling confidently.

Her friends eyes widened, and grins spread across their faces.

"That's right! She'd be _perfect!_ If she comes here, just imagine all she'll be able to do for us when she comes here." Cupid said.

"Do you think she'll come and help us? She's probably pretty busy." Funny Bone asked worriedly.

"But she also told us that in our greatest hour of need, she'd drop everything to help us," Evergreen reminded them, "I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help."

"Wait, back up. Who's Moon Jewel, and how is she going to help us?" Shining asked.

"Well, technically, it's _Princess_ Moon Jewel. She's the princess of Romaneia." Snowflake said.

"We met her a few years ago when she fled here because her advisor and some other rebels were plotting to overthrow and kill her. She begged us for help, and we agreed to come with her to Romaneia to help her. We were able to stop the rebels and get back her throne, and as thank you, she promised she'd do whatever she could to help us when we called on her for aid, including involving herself and her army in a war, if needed." Laurel explained.

"And if Moon Jewel agrees to help us, we'll not only getting another alicorn to help us, but an entire nation's army plus whatever friends we can convince to fight?!" Twilight asked excitedly.

"Yes!" Laurel squealed, equally as excited.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Silver asked, "Let's get writing!"

Everypony grabbed a scroll of parchment or a piece of notebook paper, a quill, and some ink, and began writing, praying that their friends would say yes.


	8. Reinforcements

Chapter 8: Reinforcements

Within minutes, Twilight, her friends, and her brother and sister and law were turning to Spike, asking him to send letters.

Laurel looked like she was especially concentrated on her letter, scowling at the page in deep thought and occasionally putting her quill down and staring upward before picking it back up and continuing writing.

"Uh, Applejack?" Evergreen asked after a large pile of letters collapsed on him, "Can I ask why you're writing so many letters?"

"Oh, well, I've got a really large family," Applejack said, "I was thinking that maybe I could write to all of them and see if I get some help from some of them. I'm not expectin' _all_ of them to turn up, though. Some of them are too young or too old. But I imagine they'll still try to help as best they can."

"How soon do you think we can expect reinforcements?" Starlight asked.

"Probably depends on how long it's going to take for them to get here. Some of them are farther away than others, right? So some may come later than others." Scarlet said.

"That's true" Twilight said, trying to think of pony friends who could help them.

She suddenly gasped and stood up, then started rummaging through her bag.

 _Please don't tell me I lost in the castle siege!_ Twilight thought.

She eventually found something hard enough to be a book, and victoriously pulled out a brown journal with a half star, half sun symbol on the front cover.

"I'll be right back!" Twilight said, grabbing her quill and some ink.

Twilight sat next to the roots of a tree, opened the magical journal, and began to write.

 _Dear Sunset Shimmer…_

(In the Equestria Girls universe)

Sunset Shimmer was enjoying the warm weather and gentle breeze on the beach, reading a book about a courageous warrior who left his home to fight a war overseas, and then when the war ended, had a series of misfortunes that cost him the lives of all his friends and severely delayed his journey home. When he finally made it back, he found his house swarmed with greedy suitors trying to woo his wife, thinking him dead.

Human Twilight was sitting next to her, reading a nonfiction book about space, while human Rarity was sunbathing, human Applejack and Rainbow Dash were in a heated one-on-one volleyball match, and human Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were playing in the water, splashing each other and giggling.

Sunset dropped her book when she heard a buzzing noise and saw a glowing pink light coming from her bag.

Sunset rummaged through it until she found her magical journal and read the new message from Princess Twilight.

" _What?!"_ she shrieked after reading a few lines.

Her friends surrounded her and Rarity asked. "Darling, what's wrong?"

"Listen to this!" Sunset cried, "Dear Sunset Shimmer…"

 _I'm afraid that I have to request your presence in Equestria immediately. A dark threat unlike anything I've ever seen has descended on us, and we need your help to fix it._

 _A dark sorcerer who goes by the name of Deadly Sin and his forces of evil have declared war on all Equestria. He has already seized Canterlot, taken Princess Celestia and Princess Luna hostage, and destroyed the castle. Most likely he has also acquired the Elements of Disharmony - the dark polar opposites of the Elements of Harmony._

 _My friends and I have taken refuge on the shore of Salvation Lake, outside of Fillydelphia. We're low on food, medicine, armor, and weapons, so if by any chance you can bring some, it would be a great gift to us._

 _You are a powerful magician, Sunset, and your former home needs you._ I _need you. Please help us, Sunset. We are desperate._

 _Your friend,_

 _Princess Twilight_

"That-that's terrible!" Rainbow Dash cried.

"Sunset, what are you going to do?" Human Twilight asked.

"What I have to," Sunset said, packing her bag, "Go to Equestria and help my friends."

"Sunset you can't!" Applejack cried, "It's too dangerous!"

"We could lose you!" Fluttershy exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

"I know, but what other do choice I have?! My old home and my friends are in danger. If this was happening here, wouldn't you drop anything to protect your home and your best friends?" Sunset asked.

Sunset's human friends looked down at the ground, their heads bowed.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Equestria needs me." Sunset said, picking up her bag and walking away.

"Well if you're going, we're coming with you. Right, girls?" Rainbow Dash asked, sprinting catch up.

"Right!" They all cried.

"No way! Absolutely not!" Sunset snapped.

Her friends looked taken aback, and Sunset sighed.

"I'm sorry, guys, but there's no way I'm letting you fight in this war." Sunset said more gently.

"Why not?" Rainbow asked.

"Because Equestria is a land of ponies, remember? If you came with me, you'd have to adjust to living like a pony-walking around on four limbs, learning to fight with pony weapons, and magic and flight for a few of you, which isn't like the magic or flying here. If you came to Equestria and fought, you'd get hurt, or worse, and I couldn't bear it! Not to mention, imagine how chaotic it would get if there were suddenly _two_ Raritys, _two_ Pinkie Pies, _two_ Fluttershys, _two_ Applejacks, _two_ Rainbow Dashs, and _two_ Twilights?! Please, if not for yourselves, stay here for me!" Sunset pleaded.

"But...but what if you go and never come back? How will we know if you're okay?" Pinkie asked, her hair flat and eyes full of tears.

Sunset's friends looked teary, too, and Sunset felt her eyes water as well as the possibility of the worst settled in.

Sunset dug through her bag and pulling out her magic journal.

"Here," she said shakily, handing it to Twilight, "I'll write to you everyday through this, let you know how I'm doing and what's happening in the war. And...and you can write to me, too, letting me know what's happening over here, okay?"

Twilight nodded and pulled Sunset into a hug, sobbing. The rest of their friends joined in too, crying as well. Sunset let a few tears fall from her cheeks, and then felt her friends pull away.

"You should probably go before it's too late." Twilight said, putting her glasses back on.

"Take care, Sunset Shimmer." Rarity said as she and everyone else filled her bag with food and medicine.

"You too." Sunset said, picking up her bag and walking away. As she reached the top of the stairs that led away from the beach, she turned to look back at her best friends.

"I'll come back, okay?" Sunset called over the wind, "I promise!"

"We'll be waiting!" Rainbow Dash called.

Sunset ran into a nearby tent to change into normal clothes, boarded the bus, and rode back to Canterlot High School.

As she walked towards the pedestal with the portal that would take her to Equestria, she looked over her shoulder at her school, wondering if she'd ever see it again.

Sunset took a deep breath and stepped through the portal, the colors of the rainbow clouding her vision as she was whisked away to the world she once called home.

Pony Sunset stumbled, trying to adjust to walking on four legs again. She looked around Princess Twilight's castle, as always in awe of its sheer beauty.

 _War._ She reminded herself, _Fillydelphia. Train station._ NOW.

Sunset struggled to her hooves and dashed out of the castle towards the train station, ignoring all the questions ponies asked her and quickly apologizing to all the ponies she ran over.

The sign on the wall of the train station read:

 _Rail Line Statuses_

 _Canterlot:_ CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

 _Manehattan: Line open, arrival 12:15_

 _Baltimare: Line open, arrival 12:45_

 _Galloping Gorge: Line open, arrival 1:00_

 _Las Pegasus: Line open arrival 2:00_

Sunset scrolled down the list impatiently until she saw

 _Crystal Empire: Line open, arrival 5:00_

 _Fillydelphia: Line open, arrival 5:30_

"5:30?!" she snapped, making other ponies stare at her, "It's going to take me an entire _day_ to get there!"

"Eager to get to Fillydelphia, aren't we?" a yellow foal with a red mane and a big pink bow said, standing next to a large red stallion with an orange mane and a yoke, carrying a large trunk on his back.

"Sorry," Sunset said, "I just have a really important meeting with my friends in Fillydelphia."

"No way, we have a very important meetin' in Fillydelphia, too! With our sister, Applejack!" the foal said.

"Applejack?" Sunset asked, sudden realization hitting her, "Wait a minute, are you Apple Bloom and Big Mac?" 

"Eyup." the stallion said.

"How do you know our names?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I'm a friend of your sister's. She told me about you two." Sunset said.

"You don't look familiar. If you're Applejack's friend, how come we've never met you?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I live a long way away from here. I just stopped in Ponyville to transition trains." Sunset lied.

"But-!"

"Apple Bloom," Big Mac snapped, "Enough!"

"Sorry, big brother." Apple Bloom said.

Sunset silently thanked Big Mac for stopping his little sister before she asked anything too personal, and paced around the train station, waiting for the train to Canterlot.

Spike was out of breath and magical fire by the time all the other ponies finished sending their letters.

"Sorry to exhaust you like that, Spike. Are you okay?" Snowflake asked.

"I really need a nap…" Spike moaned, collapsing.

He suddenly sat up and started burping green fire, making a dozen letters appear at once.

"For Snowflake," Twilight read, passing out letters, "For Rainbow Dash, for Shining and Cadence, for Silver, for Applejack, and…"

Twilight held up a piece of rolled parchment held together by a gold ribbon and a silver medallion.

Laurel's eyes went wide when she saw it, and she charged forward, crying, "That's for me!"

Laurel took it from Twilight as Spike belched another round of fire and letters. She hastily read it and slowly, tears started filling her eyes.

"What is it?" Evergreen asked, running over.

"Moon Jewel's coming to help us," Laurel sniffled, "She's bringing her entire army and ships full of supplies."

" _An entire army?!"_ Twilight cried, "What did you say to her?"

"I just begged for help as formally as possible. She said, 'I once told you and your friends that Romaneians never forget a debt. You all once gave everything to save my kingdom. Now it is my turn to do the same for yours. I solemnly swear that I will do everything in my power to aid you in your time of greatest need.' She really is a wonderful pony." Laurel said, drying her eyes.

"She sounds like a very generous princess." Cadence said.

Laurel nodded, and Rainbow Dash cried, "Yes!" flying up holding her letter.

"You have good news, too?" Evergreen asked.

"Do I ever! I wrote to my teammates on the Wondercolts, and they're coming to help us out, too!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"So's my brother! And he's bringing the other ponies who are stationed with him!" Snowflake said, reading her letter.

"You have a brother?" Starlight asked.

Snowflake nodded and said, "His name's Winter Gust. He's a pegasus, and part of the Royal Guard. He's stationed in Manehattan, so he escaped the attack." Snowflake said.

"Wait, your brother is Winter Gust? One of the guards who rescued me?" Silver asked in disbelief.

"That's right, he is! I completely forgot that one day when he came home shaken and said that he'd rescued a colt from some sort of disaster in a small town that had gotten wiped out. That colt was you?!" Snowflake asked.

"Well I'll be!" Applejack cried, "Your stories were connected before you two even met."

"Yeah. Winter Gust is actually one of my best friends. I'm glad he's coming to help," Silver said, trying to get to his hooves.

"Silver, what are you doing?" Evergreen asked, running over.

"I was just going to get a drink of water from the lake." Silver grunted.

"I'll get it for you." Snowflake said, rising to her hooves.

"Can you get me a glass too?" Spike asked before he belched another round of fire and letters.

"Sure thing, Spike." Snowflake said, walking out of the tent carrying a bucket.

Flash giggled and said, "Are you sure that Snowflake isn't the Loyalty element? She's awfully committed to Silver."

"If my wing weren't broken, I'd smack the back of your head with it." Silver said, smirking.

"Alright!" Applejack cheered, reading over her letters, "A bunch of my family's coming to help us or sending supplies as well!"

"So are my sisters!" Pinkie cried, reading a letter.

"And my friends!" Starlight said, grinning.

"I wish I had more friends to write to." Discord said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Discord. But at least you have us." Fluttershy said, patting his shoulder.

Snowflake came back in with the bucket full of water and poured some into a mug for Spike and gave the rest to Silver.

"Thanks, Snowflake," Spike said, gulping down his water.

He suddenly dropped his cup and stood up, the weariness in his eyes disappearing.

"I...I'm all better." Spike said, shocked.

"I'm feeling better, too." Silver said, "My side doesn't hurt as much, and the bones in my wings are mending."

Silver grunted, and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, but didn't cry out.

"I can sit up!" He cried happily.

"The lake _is_ enchanted!" Evergreen cried, amazed, "That's great!"

A sudden whooshing sound drew everypony's attention away from the miracle as a strong breeze blew through the tent, and a thud was heard outside the tent.

"Hello?" a female voice called, "Where is everypony?"

Scarlet gasped and flew out of the tent, the other ponies racing behind her.

Outside was an orange pegasus with a short yellow, red, and orange mane like looked like fire.

"Wildfire!" Scarlet cried happily.

Wildfire flew and embraced Scarlet, looking thrilled.

"What's up, sis?" Wildfire asked Scarlet, letting go of her.

" _Sis?_ " Twilight and her friends asked.

"Oh, yeah! Everypony, meet my big sister, Wildfire Blaze! Wildfire, these are my new friends, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Princess Cadence, and Prince Shining Armor." Scarlet explained.

Wildfire bowed Cadence and Twilight and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, your Highnesses."

She then turned to the other ponies and said, "Nice to meet you all, too."

Fluttershy and the other ponies nodded, and Spike asked, "Uh, what happened to your tail?"

Twilight and her friends noticed that Wildfire's tail looked like it had been partially burnt off.

"Spike, it's rude to comment on pony's tails like that!" Twilight said.

She turned to Wildfire and said, "I'm sorry about him. He's still a baby dragon, so I still need to teach him a few manners."

"It's fine. I was helping to put out a wildfire in the Wethoof Forest about a week ago and got a bit careless. I was rescuing squirrels from a burning tree and my tail got to close to the flames and started burning." Wildfire explained casually.

"Why do make that sound like it's not a big deal?" Cadence asked.

"Because I'm used to it. It goes with my line of work. I work for the NDPA Fire Division." Wildfire said.

"Aah." Shining and Cadence said understandingly.

"That's brave of you." Shining said.

"What's the NDPA?" Twilight asked.

"You haven't heard of us?! We're the Natural Disaster Prevention Agency, kid! It's our job to detect and prevent natural disasters like floods, avalanches, and wildfires. And when we find an incoming problem we can't solve like an earthquake or a hurricane, we warn ponies who are in the path of the disaster, help them prepare, and then help rebuild afterwards. We've been around for decades before any of you were even born! How have you not heard our work?!" Wildfire exclaimed.

"...Sorry?" Twilight asked, shrinking under Wildfire's gaze.

Wildfire then took a deep breath and said, "No, I'm sorry. I'm just really passionate about my work."

"And you have every right to be!" Scarlet said, "Wildfire's a hero! She's put out hundreds of fires all over Equestria and saved thousands of lives. Without the NDPA, thousands of lives would be lost every year."

"Thanks, Scarlet." Wildfire said.

"Hey, Cupid!" another voice called.

A ginger earth pony with a brown mane and blue ribbons in her mane and tail ran up to the group.

"Lacey!" Cupid cried, hugging her, "Glad you could make it!"

"I'm always happy to help. Sorry it took me so long. I had trouble finding you all." she said.

"Everyone, this is my one of my best friends, Lace Ribbon. She assists fashion designers." Cupid said.

"And how is that going to help us?" Rainbow asked.

Lace giggled and said, "Don't let the appearance and Cutie Mark fool you. In my spare time, I have a black belt in martial arts and I teach a self-defense for mares course."

"...Wow." Twilight said, "That's quite...surprising."

Lacey pulled a bag off her shoulder and said, "I also brought lots of non perishable food and medicine."

"Thanks, Lace. You're the best." Cupid said, hugging her.

"Make it rain diamonds, rubies, and gold…" voices sang in the distance.

"What is that?" Laurel asked, her horn igniting with magic.

"Relax, everypony, it's probably just a friend of my stepdad's and his crew." Silver called from inside the tent.

"Find the gems the tunnels hold…" the voices sang, growing louder.

"Mine all day through heat and cold...enter all ye both young and bold…"

A large group of ponies wearing mining helmets and carrying pickaxes and a large mining cart burst through bush.

"STRIKE young lad into the earth. BOOM goes the dynamite and jewels unearth. Watch your step, say a prayer, lay low. Beware what lies below...as into the mine you go...HA!" the miners sang.

A light gray unicorn with darker spots on his coat and whiskers looked around and loudly asked, "Where's Silver Storm?"

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up, Rock Dust?" Silver asked, limping out of the tent.

"Blimey, kid!" Rock Dust cried, running over, "What happened to ya?"

"A guardsman betrayed us and tried to kill Princess Flurry Heart. I stopped him, but he beat me up pretty bad." Silver said, panting as Snowflake helped him sit.

"HE DID WHAT?!" Rock bellowed, making Flurry Heart cry.

"It's fine, Rock." Silver moaned.

"You really shouldn't be walking yet." Snowflake said.

"Who's this?" Rock asked.

"Snowflake Swirl, my...my love." Silver said.

"HA! Well, somepony's got good taste!" Rock yelled, beaming, his front gold tooth shining.

"Nice meetin' ya, darling." Rock cried, shaking Snowflake's hoof.

"Goodness, are you always this loud?" Laurel asked.

"Yes, I am! In this field, you need to be loud so your crew can hear you over the jackhammers and dynamite explosions. If you don't like it, cover your darn ears!" Rock yelled in Laurel's face.

"Sorry." Laurel said meekly, backing away quickly.

"Well, regardless, could you keep it down? We're trying not to attract attention." Shining said.

"You think this amount of noise could attract attention? Dream on, son. Ain't no pony gonna hear me but you all!" Rock bellowed.

"Dude, your yelling could wake a dragon." Rainbow said.

"I ain't yelling, this is my speaking voice!" Rock roared.

"Well, then, could you maybe try whispering?" Cadence asked.

"Like this?" Rock asked, finally talking at a reasonable volume.

"Yes, that's perfect." Cadence said, smiling.

Rock spat and said, "I don't like talking like this, but I suppose I don't have a choice."

He turned to his crew and said, "Alright, everypony. Unload the cart and let's get settled in."

"Wow." Applejack whispered, "Hate to think what would happen if this fellow were given a megaphone."

Twilight and her friends shuddered at the thought.

More and more ponies slowly started coming in from farther and farther away. Everypony looked thrilled as their family and old friends showed up to help them. After a while, Evergreen's nature tent was overflowing with medicines to treat everything from colds to poisoning. By the time the sun had set, everypony had a weapon and had been fitted into armor, and there was enough food to sustain them for months.

But Twilight couldn't help but wonder, where was Sunset Shimmer?

Sunset was pacing up and down the isle of the train, her frustration growing as the sky grew darker.

"Excuse me," she asked the conductor, "How much longer until we reach Fillydelphia?"

"Maybe another 4 hours?" the conductor estimated.

"4 HOURS?!" Sunset snapped, "Can't you make this train go any faster?! Lives are at stake, here!"

"What do you mean?" the conductor asked.

"N...nevermind. Just forget it." Sunset huffed, stomping away.

"Sheesh, somepony's got her tail in a twist." a pony to her right said.

Sunset rushed into the sleeping car and hopped into the nearest open bunk. She slammed her face into the pillow so hard, her horn pierced through it.

She scowled, removing the pillow, and turned over, closing her eyes to try and sleep. She tossed and turned as nightmares plagued her dreams, until a large explosion finally woke her.

Sunset sat upright, all of her senses tingling as she tried to figure out what was going on. She and other ponies started screaming as the train began rocking violently back and forth.

She quickly shook off her fear and used the momentum from the rocking train car to propel herself through an open window.

She landed on her hooves and looked behind her at the nightmare that was unfolding. The train engine was engulfed in flame, and monsters bearing a weird symbol on their shoulders were rocking the train and climbing on the roof, trying to get to the ponies inside.

A harpy saw Sunset and screeched, charging towards her, more monsters soon following its lead.

Sunset considered running, but then remembered Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and all the other ponies trapped inside, and blasted the harpy to cinders, then charged towards the remaining monsters.

She used every spell she knew in her years of studying under Princess Celestia, but there were too many for her to take on by herself. She heard other ponies trying to fight back, but they were too preoccupied or scared to help her. Too soon, Sunset found herself tiring. The monsters took advantage of her weariness and attacked twice as hard, not one of them missing. Sunset screamed as she was mauled, lacerated, bitten, and pecked by many different kinds of monsters.

She saw a white blob descend above her, and thought for a minute that it was an angel come to take her soul to the afterlife. Then she saw the gold and blue armor on him, and realized that it wasn't an angel. It was a Royal Guard!

The pegasus guard swooped down and swiftly killed the monsters with spear and incredible speed.

"Are you okay, miss?" the white pegasus with a white and silver mane asked, his hooves covered in monster blood.

 _Do I_ look _okay?!_ Sunset wanted to retort, but all she could do was moan.

"Oh," the guard said, noticing the state of her wounds, "No, you not. Okay, stay where you are. My fellow guard ponies are taking care of it. These beasts will be exterminated, and then we'll escort you and the other ponies to somewhere safe. At least, my sister says it's moderately safe. The ponies there should be able to help you. I'd say they _will_ be able to help you, but I don't know how much they have in terms of medicine. But I'm sure-!"

"Winter Gust!" a guard pony cried, "Muzzle your motormouth and help us!"

"Okay, sorry!" Winter Gust said, charging into the fray.

After what felt like an eternity to Sunset, the sounds of the battle died down, and Winter Gust returned to her, looking a bit beat up but no serious wounds.

"Okay, can you stand up?" he asked her.

Sunset weakly shook her head and Winter Gust facepalmed.

"Right, of course you can't stand up! Not in the state you're in! Sweet Celestia, Winter have some common sense!" he scolded himself.

"Alright, then. Do you have enough strength to hold on to me if I fly with you on my back?" Winter asked.

Sunset paused, thinking, and then nodded.

"Okay," Winter said, gently placing her on his back.

He flew to meet a black pegasus with a black and blue mane and the other guards who were rallying the other ponies to follow them.

"Oh, gosh!" the black pegasus said, noticing Sunset, "What happened to her?"

"She tried battling a bunch of monsters and got beat up. She was really heroic, though." Winter said.

"I bet." the pegasus said.

"So, we're heading to Salvation Lake, right? Just outside of Fillydelphia?" Winter Gust asked.

The black pegasus nodded and said, "Everypony's together, and we've sent a letter to the Equestria Train Service. We're heading out now."

"Any fatalities?" Winter asked, beginning to fly away with the group.

"Only the conductor." The black pegasus said.

Winter breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I mean, not that the conductor died, but that no one else got killed. The conductor was impossible to save. Did you see the monferno coming from engine? I haven't seen a train fire like that since...actually, ever!" Winter cried.

"Me neither." the black pegasus said, grimacing, "It was terrifying."

"I'll say!" Winter said.

He then turned back to Sunset and said, "So, you know we're heading to Salvation Lake, right? Just outside of Fillydelphia, maybe half an hour away? So you'll be getting attention soon? Do you know why it's called Salvation Lake? My sister said it has something to do with an urban legend about how the city was created, but I didn't read much about it. As soon as I read what was going on, I was like, 'Whoa, we gotta get there and help my sister and best friend _now_ '. Thankfully, Thunderhoof here agreed with me, and that's why we're heading there. I've never seen beasts attack a train like that, though. It made my heart stop! Anyway, you're going to love my sister Snowflake Swirl and my friend Silver Storm!"

Sunset tensed at Silver's name, but Winter didn't seem to notice.

"She specializes in ice dance and ice know what that is, right? It's basically ice ballet. You're probably thinking it's weird that I'm a pegasus and she's a unicorn, but my dad was a unicorn and my mom a pegasus, so that's how it wound up this way. Snowflake's super sweet. She has more of a quiet, calm personality whereas I tend to be more bold, but we get along for the most part. Silver likes the quiet lifestyle, too, but he's more bold than I am. He's such an awesome stallion. One time, he-!"

"WINTER GUST, SHUT UP!" the black pegasus named Thunderhoof roared.

"I was just chatting with her!" Winter protested.

"You let your motormouth run off again! How many times do I have to tell you, there's a difference between friendly chatter and rambling. That was rambling!" Thunderhoof scolded.

"It's just been a long time since I've had anyone new to talk to." Winter said sheepishly.

"I know, but you've got to get it under control, man. You love talking, and that's great, but sometimes you take it too far. I'm not trying to criticize you, I'm just trying to help you out since you're my special somepony." Thunderhoof said softly.

"Okay. I'm sorry I started rambling." Winter Gust said to Thunderhoof and Sunset.

"You need any help carrying her?" Thunderhoof asked.

"I've got it. But thanks, babe. I love you." Winter Gust said, his cheeks turning pink.

"Alright. But I'm happy to take over if you need it." Thunderhoof said.

"I don't think I will. I'm a guard pony, remember? We're trained to carry heavy loads for long periods of time, including full grown ponies like her. And besides, we're about 15 minutes away, aren't we?" Winter noted.

"Yeah, you've got a good point." Thunderhoof said.

 _Gay Royal Guards?_ Sunset thought, _Interesting. Never seen that before._

As if reading her thoughts, Winter turned to her and asked, "You're okay with us being in love, right?"

Sunset weakly nodded, her vision growing dark.

"I think we need to pick up the pace. She looks like she's reaching unconsciousness." Thunderhoof noticed, flying closer to get a good look at her.

"Do you think they can all run for 15 minutes?" Winter asked, looking down at the crowd being led by the unicorn and earth pony guard members.

Sunset felt her heart stop as they all suddenly heard a large roar behind them.

"Looks like we're going to have to!" Thunderhoof cried.

"Everypony, run as fast as you can behind us! Guards, turtle formation! Try to remain calm!" Winter called.

The train passengers took off as the guard members circled around the frightened ponies.

"Fly ahead, the rest of us will provide air support." Thunderhoof ordered Winter.

"No, I'm not leaving you." Winter snapped.

"You have an injured civilian who needs immediate medical attention on your back. Staying with us is not only going to kill her, but put your life at risk, too! Winter, go!" Thunder commanded.

Winter grimaced, realizing he was right, and kissed Thunderhoof on the lips.

"Come back to me." Winter ordered.

"I will," Thunderhoof said he flew towards the rest of the group.

Winter turned swiftly, and sprinted so fast, his speed trail appeared, a white and silver streak against the dark sky.

Sunset clung to him so hard, she feared she may be choking him. But she was more afraid of falling off, and still more afraid of losing her consciousness.

"Twilight, what's that white thing?" Spike said, looking up at the sky.

The other ponies looked where he was looking to see a white streak rapidly descending on them.

"It can't be Moon Jewel already." Laurel noted, "She won't be here until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Do you think it's a monster?" Shining Armor asked, lighting up his horn.

"No, wait!" Snowflake cried, "I think...I think I know who it is."

The white streak got closer to reveal that it was a white pegasus in Royal Guard armor with something orange on his back.

"Winter Gust!" Snowflake cried, waving him to their location.

Shining and Flash Sentry breathed sighs of relief at the sight of their old friend.

Winter Gust landed in front of the group, heaving.

"Winter!" Snowflake cried, running to embrace him.

Winter backed up and shook his head.

"Can't...hug right now…" he panted, "This pony on my back...she's badly injured...she needs help... _now_."

Evergreen looked at the orange pony on Winter Gust's back and frowned.

"Sweet Celestia, what in Equestria happened to her?" Evergreen asked, examining the pony.

"The train she was on got attacked by monsters." Winter reported, starting to catch his breath, "She tried to fight back, but...but got overpowered."

"Brave mare." Evergreen mumbled, "I'll take her inside my tent and do what I can to help her."

Evergreen used his magic to lift the injured pony off of Winter Gust's back and Twilight gasped as she recognized who it was.

"SUNSET SHIMMER!" she cried, tears filling her eyes and the sight of her battered friend.

" _What?!"_ Silver cried from inside Evergreen's tent, sounding furious.

Sunset opened her eyes and mouthed Twilight's name before being whisked away into Evergreen's tent.

"Wait!" Twilight called, running after them, "Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know, Twilight!" Evergreen called from inside the tent, "I'll tell you after I do all I can to help her."

"Can't you build another tent and work on her in there?" Silver snapped.

"No, because this is where all my medicine is. Besides, building another tent would take too long, and she needs help _now_." Evergreen said.

Silver huffed and grumbled under his breath, but didn't say anything else.

Twilight bowed her head and walked away, praying her friend would be alright. Her head perked up though as she heard Winter Gust's report to Shining Armor.

"-engine was a freaking monferno! A whole bunch of monsters bearing this weird mark on them were shoving the train cars back and forth like it was a toy, and some of them were trying to get in through the roof. Thunderhoof and I knew we couldn't just leave them, so we ordered our guys to attack, and I swooped down and began killing all the beasts that were attacking that orange unicorn I brought who'd somehow gotten out of the train car and started trying to fight them and was getting mauled. I slew all of them, and then reassured her she'd be fine and then helped take out the other monsters. Thunderhoof and I regrouped then, and started escorting all the ponies from the train-well, almost all the ponies, the conductor couldn't be saved-and we were going to lead them here. But about 15 minutes into our walk, we heard a loud roar behind us, and Thunderhoof ordered that I go get that unicorn-was her name Sunset Shimmer?-to safety since she was really badly hurt."

"So where are they now?" Shining asked.

"I don't know, sir. Well, technically I do sort of know. I know that they're at least 15 minutes away from here, but I don't know their exact location. Hopefully whatever that thing was didn't catch them. Do you think it was a dragon? It sounded like a dragon, but I haven't met very many dragons, so I'm not sure." Winter rambled.

"Okay, thank you Winter Gust." Shining said.

"Or I guess it could've been a mountain troll. Those things are _huge_ and they tend to bellow a lot. They're not very smart, though, so if it's that, Thunderhoof and the others should be okay. That is, if they don't get stepped on or squashed by its club." Winter continued.

"Winter-!" Shining warned.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure Thunderhoof can handle it. He's a smart stallion. That's part of the reason I love him so much. I was actually thinking about buying him a ring and asking him to marry me. Do you think he'd say yes? Do you think other ponies would be okay if we got married in Canterlot? Because I've always dreamed of getting married in Canterlot. He'd look so handsome in his suit, walking down the aisle, my sister as my best mare, lots of beautiful flowers-!" Winter gushed.

"Winter Gust, that's _enough_!" Shining snapped.

The dreamy smile fell off of Winter's face as he realized what he'd done.

"I went way off tangent again, didn't I?" Winter asked sheepishly.

Shining nodded and said, "Why don't you go on patrol for a while, watch for Thunderhoof and the others?"

"Yes, sir." Winter said, saluting.

"Wait!" Snowflake cried, running up to him.

The two siblings hugged, and Winter said, "Hey, Snowflake. It's been a while. I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too. Sorry to have to meet again at such a bad time." Snowflake said.

Winter laughed as he pulled away and said, "No, no not at all. I'm a Royal Guard, remember? This is what I'm trained for."

"Guys, catch up later. Winter, patrol." Shining said firmly.

"Yes, sir. My apologies, sir." Winter said, saluting again.

He winked at his sister as we walked away, and started walking the perimeter of the campground, stone faced.

"I'm sorry about my brother," Snowflake said, turning to the group, "He loves talking, so it leads to him having a motormouth."

"Yeah, it sounds to me like your brother ought to change his name to Chatterbox." Applejack said.

Snowflake laughed and said, "Yeah, I suppose so."

"So, how is it that your brother's a pegasus, and you're a unicorn?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, it's because of our parents. Our dad's a unicorn, and our mom's a pegasus, so that's why we are the way we are." Snowflake said.

"Then why did you both end up with names that have to do with winter?" Rarity asked.

"Again, our parents. My dad, Slalom Shred, is a ski instructor, and my mom, Snow Flurry, helps plan winter in Canterlot and creates snow clouds so snow flurries will fall on the city."

"Ah." Twilight and her friends said, understanding.

"Is that you and Wildfire ended up with special talents that have to do with fire?" Twilight asked Scarlet.

"Sort of," Wildfire said, coming up behind the group, "Our dad is a fireman, but our mom runs a daycare, so it was mostly coincidental that both our special talents deal with fire. But then again, not all of us are like that. Our youngest sister, Poppy Petals, specializes in planting and growing flowers, so we're a very diverse family."

Scarlet looked pained at the mention of her younger sister's name.

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked.

"Poppy...she lives in Canterlot. She's probably been hypnotized into being one of Deadly Sin's mindless pony slaves. I just hope...she survives." Scarlet said, tears in her eyes.

Wildfire wrapped her arm around Scarlet's shoulders and look at her intensely.

"When we take back Canterlot, Poppy will be the first pony we free." Wildfire promised, a fire burning in the back of her eyes.

Scarlet nodded and yawned, "I'm sleepy."

The blaze in Wildfire's eyes died as she smiled at her younger sister.

"I figured you might be." Wildfire said gently, "I came over to let you know we've set up Tent City. You all should probably get some sleep, too."

"'Tent City?'" Twilight asked.

Wildfire nodded and said, "Yeah, kid, I mean, your Highness. It's what we're calling it since there's so many tents set up because of all the ponies staying with us. We saved the best for you and Princess Cadence and her family, your Highness."

"You didn't have to do that." Twilight said sheepishly, following Wildfire as she led them to 'Tent City'.

"Nonsense. You're _royalty_. Just because we're in the middle of a war doesn't mean you should be treated like anything less than the princess you are." Wildfire said.

Twilight felt her jaw drop as she saw what Wildfire was talking about when she referred to 'Tent City'. The area was filled with at least 200 tents, all filled with two ponies each. Some were still walking around, making it look like a real miniature city made of tents.

"Wow. Imagine how much more impressive this'll get when Moon Jewel arrives with her troops." Evergreen mumbled.

The others nodded, and Wildfire pointed to a large purple tent.

"That tent is yours, Princess Twilight." Wildfire said, "Everypony else, find an open tent."

"That looks awfully big for a single pony. Are you sure that's not Cadence's?" Twilight asked.

"Yep. That's Cadence's tent." Wildfire said, pointing to an extra large pink tent.

"Alright, then. Good night, everypony." Twilight said, walking towards her tent.

Her friends said their goodnights, and Twilight stepped into tent to find that sleeping bag and pillow had already been laid out for. Twilight burrowed herself into it, laid her head on the pillow, and tried not to cry as all of her memories of Sunset Shimmer replayed themselves in her mind.

 _Please,_ Twilight prayed, _Let Sunset be okay._


	9. The Return of Sunset Shimmer

Chapter 9: The Return of Sunset Shimmer

Sunset moaned and opened her eyes, her entire body aching. She squinted at the sunlight shining in her eyes and looked around to see that she was in a tent made out of plants.

"Where am I?" she moaned.

"Well, well," A voice to her right said scathingly, "Look who finally came back to us."

Sunset turned to see a gray pegasus with a shiny silver mane and deep blue eyes leering at her.

" _Silver?"_ Sunset asked, recognizing him instantly.

"Silver _Storm._ " Silver spat, "You lost the right to call me anything else a long time ago. Or has living in that mirror world made you forget everything you left behind when you ran away?"

Sunset took a deep breath and said, "I never forgot, Silver Storm. I'm so sorry for everything I said and did to you."

"Well, that's the first time in a long time I've heard you say that. Maybe there is a little warmth left in that block of ice you call a heart." Silver snarled.

Sunset looked away, biting her lip to keep from crying.

"Why are you here, Sunset?" Silver asked harshly, "What made you finally decide to come home?"

"Princess Twilight begged me for help. I had to protect my friends and home." Sunset said weakly.

"You have _friends?!_ Ha! I don't believe you for a second! The only pony you care about is yourself! You probably came back to try and fight for glory so you can be made a princess and take over Equestria!" Silver sneered.

"I'm not the same pony I was the last time we saw each other! Princess Twilight turned me around, and I've become better! I have friends now, here and in the other world! Please, Silver! I really am sorry! Please forgive me!" Sunset pleaded.

"What's going on in here?" a new voice asked.

Sunset turned to see a green unicorn with a black mane and green eyes entering the tent.

"Oh, you're awake." he said, walking over to Sunset, "How do you feel?"

"Really sore." Sunset said, trying not to look at Silver.

"I bet. Winter Gust told us what happened. You were really brave, trying to battle all those monsters to protect the other ponies aboard the train. Wouldn't be surprised if they were some of Deadly Sin's minions." the unicorn said while examining her.

"Winter Gust's here? Can I see him?" Silver asked.

"You still need to rest, Silver. The lake water's doing wonders healing you, but you still need a bit more downtime before you can leave the healing tent and begin training to regain your strength." the green unicorn said.

"Why don't you try chatting with Sunset Shimmer here and get to know each other?" he suggested, making Sunset facepalm and Silver glare at her again.

"We've already met. Which reminds me, can I switch to a new tent or can she be moved?" Silver asked coldly.

The green unicorn frowned and asked, "Do you two have history?"

"It's a long story I'd rather not talk about." Sunset said sadly.

"At least on that, we can agree." Silver said.

"Well, Silver, I'm afraid that Sunset's too fragile to be moved in her current state, so I can't remove her. You'll only need to be in here for a few more days, if you keep drinking the lake water. I'm sorry if that upsets you." the unicorn said matter-of-factly.

"Well then, I'm leaving!" Silver cried, rising to his hooves.

"No, you are not! Lay back down!" the unicorn said calmly, running over to him.

"I feel fine, and I'm dying of boredom being stuck in this stupid tent all day! Not to mention, I'm now stuck in here with the pony who took my heart and trust and smashed it to dust!" Silver barked.

"You are not to leave this tent until I tell you to. Doctor's orders." the unicorn said firmly.

"Evergreen-!" Silver tried to protest.

" _Doctor's. Orders. Lay back down."_ Evergreen said tensely.

Silver huffed but obeyed, glaring at him.

"Evergreen, is it?" Sunset asked him.

"Yes. How can I help you?" Evergreen asked, walking over to her.

"Can you get Princess Twilight and her friends? I want to see them." Sunset requested.

"Of course! But while I'm gone, no fighting. Don't even talk to each other if the only thing you're going to do is bicker, okay?" Evergreen asked.

Sunset and Silver agreed, and Evergreen stepped out.

A little while later, Princess Twilight burst through the tent, looking around frantically for Sunset Shimmer.

"Twilight!" Sunset called weakly.

"Oh! Sunset!" Twilight cried, her facing lighting up.

She ran and hugged her friend as all of Princess Twilight's friends cried, "Sunset!" and hugged her too.

"OWW!" she cried, her body aching and eyes watering from pain, "GET OFF!"

"Oh, gosh! We're so sorry, Sunset!" Twilight cried, leaping off of her.

"It's okay." she wheezed, drying her eyes.

"We're glad you're awake! We were all so worried about you!" Starlight Glimmer said.

"You were so awesome, fighting those monsters to protect the others ponies! That's like, way cool!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Thanks. Oh my gosh, that's right! Where's Thunderhoof and the other ponies who were on the train? Are they here yet?" Sunset asked frantically.

"Thunderhoof and the other ponies from the train made it here at dawn. They're all safe and sound." Twilight said reassuringly.

"Good." Sunset said, breathing a sigh of relief.

She then noticed a red pegasus with a darker red mane, a light blue unicorn with a white mane, a brown earth pony with a yellow mane, a pink pegasus with a curly dark pink mane, and a purple unicorn with a brown mane standing in the back awkwardly.

"Oh, hi!" she called to them, "Who are you?"

The other turned to them, and Starlight asked, "Guys, why are you just standing there? Come over and say hi."

"We, uh, didn't know if it was appropriate to interrupt you guys because we don't know her." the red pegasus said.

"Anytime's a good time to make a new friend." Princess Twilight said, "Come on, you'll love Sunset Shimmer."

The light blue unicorn, red and pink pegasi, and the brown earth pony stepped forward, but the purple unicorn stood back, tensing.

"I...I'm not sure." she said, looking anxious.

"Laurel, what's wrong?" Evergreen asked.

Laurel leaned into his ear and whispered something, making Evergreen's face fall as he listened.

"Laurel, I'm sure that won't happen. Sunset seems like a nice pony. She'll accept you." Evergreen said.

"I wouldn't say that. Just because somepony _seems_ nice doesn't mean they are. And nice doesn't always mean good." Silver said coldly.

Sunset felt a pang in her heart as everypony looked at him, confused.

"Silver, what are you talking about?" the light blue unicorn asked.

"You want to tell them, or should I?" Silver asked Sunset scathingly.

"I'll tell them." Sunset said sadly, "Silver-!"

"Silver _Storm._ " Silver interrupted.

"Silver Storm and I were best friends when we were younger." Sunset continued, "He entered the Royal Guard Academy at about the same time I began studying under Princess Celestia, so we saw each other a lot. We quickly grew close. Everyday, after we both got out of school for the day, we'd meet up at the park and hang out with each other- we'd both talk about the things we'd learned, I'd show him all my new spells, and he'd show me the new combat moves we'd learned. We'd play all kinds of games on the playground, and then at the end of the day, we'd walk home together."

"What happened?" Starlight asked.

Sunset took a deep breath and said, "I changed for the worst. I felt that since I'd been studying so hard and become such a good pupil to Princess Celestia, she should've made me an alicorn princess. But Celestia felt I wasn't ready, that I'd been spending too much time focusing on my magical studies and not enough time learning how to lead and be a good princess. I tried my hardest to do what she said, but it wasn't enough for her. I slowly became angry at everyone, and my ego inflated to the point where I thought I was better than anyone, even Celestia herself. I became cruel, dishonest, deceitful, power-hungry, and just plain horrible. Silver tried to stop me and help me see that what I was doing was wrong, but I never listened. I was so focused on my ambition and forcing other ponies to bow before me that I was blinded to everything else. Slowly, I began seeing Silver as less of a friend and more of a nuisance. And then, one day, he tried lecturing me again about how I was becoming a horrible pony, and I snapped. I...I said some horrible things to him."

"She said that I was nothing but a stupid little orphan that had no business being with an esteemed pony like her, that I was a useless embarrassment who would achieve nothing in life, and that I should've just died with the rest of my town the day of that attack." Silver said angrily, tears in his eyes.

"I never forgot the last thing Silver said to me. He looked at me broken-heartedly and said, 'Who are you and what have you done to my best friend? I loved you, Sunset Shimmer'. He ran away crying after that, and we never saw each other again." Sunset hiccupped, tears running down her face.

"What happened afterwards?" Laurel asked, looking equally depressed and intrigued.

Sunset told them of how she had finally lost all her patience with Princess Celestia and abandoned Equestria for a new world that was only accessible through a magical mirror. She explained how she had bullied everyone in her new home into accepting her as their leader, but how she still wasn't satisfied, so she returned to swipe Twilight's Element of Harmony crown, but had gotten caught and how her crown had wound up in her world. Sunset then mentioned how Twilight had followed her into her mirror world to get her crown back, rallied the whole school around her, all the sabotage Sunset had committed, and the events of the Fall Formal dance. She recalled the threats she made to try to force Twilight to give up her crown, and how the princess had bravely defied her, and then how she'd stolen Twilight's crown anyway, how she'd transformed into a she-demon and hypnotized everyone in the school to be her mindless army and take over Equestria, and how Princess Twilight and her friends in the mirror world had defeated her using the power of the elements inside them, making Sunset finally learn the lesson that Princess Celestia and Silver Storm had failed to teach her.

When Sunset was done, everypony except Twilight was looking at her in shock, and Laurel's eyes were wide and shiny.

"You are like me…" she breathed.

"What do you mean?" Sunset asked.

Laurel told the story of how she had tried to become Princess Celestia's student, but how Twilight had upstaged her, and she was kicked out in disgrace for trying to undermine Twilight, making her hate Twilight and become angry at Celestia. Afterwards, she'd been bullied by her parents and classmates, destroying every confidence she had in herself. Later, she and her friends had moved to Ponyville, where she'd once again run into her old rival and said scathing things to her. Laurel's friends had tried to cheer her up, but to no avail. Laurel eventually found the Disharmony element of Dark Magic, and had become a powerful dark sorcerer by the name of Midnight Eclipse. She'd petrified Twilight's friends and was about to turn Twilight herself into stone when Laurel's friends had saved her, and broken through to Laurel, then using the Elements of Harmony free Laurel from Midnight Eclipse. Finally, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had showed up, decided not to punish Laurel, made Laurel Luna's students, and had finally gotten together with her best friend and true love, Evergreen.

Sunset stared at her, her jaw dropped and eyes wide.

"Yeah...I was pretty horrible, wasn't I?" Laurel asked sheepishly.

"You and me both." Sunset said sadly, smiling tiredly.

"So, how did you learn to move on?" Laurel asked, coming up to her.

"It was hard," Sunset admitted, "Especially since no one in my school let me forget what I'd done or how mean I was. That is, everyone except my friends. I guess I just focused looking forward to good things in my future rather than lamenting over what happened in my past, and paid more attention to making myself better than who I once was, instead of everyone reminding me of who I used to be. I think that the most important part is learning how to forgive yourself and let your good side rule you rather when your demons. Because if you don't, you'll be right back at square one."

"She's right, Laurel." Starlight said gently, "You have to stop worrying about what other ponies think of you, and love yourself for who you are."

"But how can I pay more attention to becoming a better pony if the ponies that make me feel love to come up to me the second I set hoof in Canterlot?" Laurel asked.

"Stand up to them, then. As confidently as possible. Let them know that nothing they say is going to break you." Sunset said boldly.

"Except everything does. I just...want to make everypony proud of me. But I never will. It's like my parents and all those other ponies always tell me. I'm nothing but a failure." Laurel whispered, sitting, tears running down her face.

Laurel's friends gathered around her, hugging her, and Sunset put one of her hoofs on Laurel's.

"My mom always used to tell Winter Gust and I 'You're never a failure until you give up on yourself'." the blue unicorn said.

"Really?" Laurel asked, looking at her through her tears.

She nodded, and said, "So, don't give up yourself. You proved that you're a phenomenal magician in the Siege of Canterlot, using transfiguration, petrification, the shrinking spell, and you can do so much more! So please, Laurel, stop doubting yourself and learn to see how awesome you are!"

Laurel smiled weakly and said, "Thanks. You're a great friend, Snowflake Swirl."

"You are, too, Laurel Wreath." Snowflake said.

"So, Snowflake Swirl, Laurel Wreath, and Evergreen, huh?" Sunset asked, "Those are nice names. What are yours?"

"Oh, I'm Scarlet Streak." the red pegasus said.

She pointed to the brown earth pony and pink pegasus and said, "And these two are Funny Bone and Cupid's Arrow."

"Most of us go by our first names, though. So you can call us Cupid, Evergreen, Laurel, Snowflake, and Scarlet. Funny Bone doesn't like nicknames, though." Cupid's Arrow added.

"Ah. It's a pleasure to meet you all." Sunset said kindly.

Laurel suddenly cried out in pain and began shuddering violently, gritting her teeth and her eyes watering.

"Laurel, what's wrong?!" Evergreen cried, running over.

"My...my magic!" she stammered, "Something's going wrong!"

Laurel's irises suddenly started turning red, her mane and coat darkened, her teeth became pointed, and she grew.

Everypony gasped, and Sunset asked, "What's going on?!"

"It's Midnight Eclipse!" Evergreen cried.

Midnight Eclipse laughed and said, "Right you are, little ponies! How kind of you to remember me!"

"How are you here?" Twilight asked, "Laurel's not wearing the Dark Magic Disharmony Element!"

"This is merely a small manifestation of myself that I was able to conjure because of all the dark magic freely flowing through the land thanks to my master." Midnight Eclipse snarled.

"So, you _are_ in league with Deadly Sin!" Evergreen said bravely, "I knew it!"

"Yes, I am. And why wouldn't I be? We both want the same thing-to watch Equestria burn to ashes, so that a glorious new empire may be born! And when it does, I will rule alongside my master and love as his empress. You merely delay your inevitable demise. Surrender to me, and Lord Sin will grant you a quick, merciful death. Your friend, Laurel Wreath, however, will be spared so that she may be my permanent host." Midnight boasted.

"Never! We'll find a way to defeat you and Deadly Sin, and Laurel will never fall to you!" Scarlet cried.

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that? Two of your leaders are in our custody, and everyday we grow in strength. We just succeeded in taking Maneami, and now that we know where you are, Fillydelphia is next! As for Laurel here, she's weak and already broken, easy prey for someone like me. I will catch her, and when I do, I will never release her _again_. It's the end for all of you!" Midnight Eclipse bragged, then laughed maniacally.

Evergreen shot a magical laser at Midnight Eclipse, making her start to dissolve where she was struck.

"Tell Laurel I'll be waiting for her at the end of the war, if not sooner!" Midnight Eclipse cried as she rapidly disintegrated until all that was left was an unconscious Laurel and the echo of Midnight Eclipse's laughter.

Laurel stirred and looked around, confused at the horrified look on everypony's faces.

"What happened?" Laurel asked, looking concerned.

"Midnight Eclipse took you over with a small manifestation of herself and said that she's in league with Deadly Sin. She told us that they succeeded in taking over Maneami and now they're coming here to try and stop us, and that Midnight Eclipse is planning to have you become her permanent host so she can stay forever!" Starlight cried.

Laurel paled and quickly got to her hooves.

"We need to evacuate! We're not strong enough face Deadly Sin yet. If we stay, you'll all die, and I'll lose myself forever." Laurel cried.

"Where can we go, then?" Sunset asked, "We'd have to find somewhere that Deadly Sin isn't able to find us! And since Midnight Eclipse was able to find us here, we could be found anywhere!"

"We'll have to go abroad, then. I remember the legend now. Part of Deadly Sin's curse is that he can't leave Equestria or he'll turn to dust, that's why the legend that he fled the land after his defeat in the first Great Pony War wasn't true. We'll be safe in Romaneia with Moon Jewel." Laurel announced.

"What about the other ponies in the other towns and cities, then? They'd be left with no one to defend them!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We'll try to return as soon as we can. Romaneia's the only place where we'll be able to plan for how to win the war without constantly having to worry about being attacked." Laurel pleaded.

"I guess we don't have a choice then. We're going to have to leave or risk death and the fall of Equestria. Let everypony know so we can evacuate quickly, and set the guards on high alert in case Deadly Sin attacks sooner than we anticipate." Twilight ordered.

Everypony ran out of the tent except for Silver, Sunset, Twilight, and Laurel after Twilight said, "Wait, Laurel. I need you to stay with me for a bit."

"Uh, okay. What's up?" Laurel asked.

"I admire the way you took command like that and created a solution quickly. That was well done." Twilight started.

"Thank you." Laurel said, beaming.

"However," Twilight continued, "There is something else I'm concerned about."

"What?" Laurel asked.

"I'm worried about _you_. You were overtaken by a small, weak version of Midnight Eclipse so easily because of all the darkness that's still lurking inside you. If she's able to consume you without much effort in her weakest form, then what's going to happen to you when we face the Disharmony Element of Dark Magic? What if you completely lose yourself and we can't get you back?" Twilight asked.

Laurel bit her lip and looked at the ground, looking equally terrified and ashamed.

"I'm sorry, Laurel." Twilight said after noticing her facial expression, "I'm not trying to degrade you, I'm just worried about you because you're my friend."

"Starlight and I can work with her," Sunset offered, "We'll coach her to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Really?" Laurel asked, perking up a bit.

Sunset nodded and said, "We understand you, Laurel. If it's anypony who can help you through this, it's Starlight Glimmer and I."

"Th...thank you." Laurel said, "That's really kind of you."

Sunset nodded and said, "You two should probably help everypony prepare to evacuate."

Twilight and Laurel dashed out of the tent, running like monsters were on their heels.

Sunset risked a glance at Silver Storm to find him still glaring at her suspiciously, but he now had a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

 _Please let Moon Jewel and her troops make it here in time._ Sunset prayed.


	10. Moon Jewel

Chapter 10: Moon Jewel

Twilight and Laurel trotted out of the tent to find the camp in absolute chaos as the word spread about the incoming invasion.

Shining Armor, Thunderhoof, Cadence, and Winter Gust had taken charge of the operation, trying to keep everypony calm while giving orders.

Fluttershy was flying from tree to tree, warning the animals to flee the area.

Applejack, Big Mac, Rainbow Dash, Wildfire, and Scarlet were helping Rock Dust and his mining crew sort through the supplies and pack everything up while Funny Bone, Lace Ribbon, Pinkie Pie, and Apple Bloom and half of the other ponies took down tents.

Near the lake, Discord had created a giant plastic bottle that he, Rarity, Evergreen, Starlight, Snowflake, Cupid, and the other half of the ponies were working hard to fill with lake water.

"Twilight," Shining Armor called once he spotted her, "Help us get everypony organized!"

"I'm coming!" Twilight responded.

She turned to Laurel and asked, "Are you going to be alright?"

Laurel nodded and said, "I'll be fine. I'll go help fill up the bottle. Do what you need to do, Princess Twilight."

Twilight nodded and flew off while Laurel ran to the lake to help her friends.

Discord and the other ponies were using small buckets to fill up the giant bottle, barely filling it.

 _That's not going to help much._ Laurel thought.

Then she remembered a spell she'd learned in her _Forgotten Advanced Spells_ textbook she'd borrowed from the library years ago.

"Everypony, back up! I've got an idea." Laurel called.

The other ponies dropped their buckets and backed away from the lake.

Laurel stuck her horn in the cool water and concentrated, following the steps the book had said to do, and slowly felt the water begin to change and make a rushing sound. Laurel looked out to the corner of her eye to see that the current of the lake had changed so that it was flowing into the bottle at ten times the rate Discord and the other ponies were filling it.

 _It worked!_ Laurel thought gleefully, increasing her magic.

"She can _do that?!"_ Rarity asked in amazement.

"That's incredible! I've never seen a pony do that!" Starlight cried.

"I have," Discord said, staring in awe, "But it's been a thousand years since I saw a pony use it correctly. Of course, I've been petrified for a thousand years, so maybe another pony was able to, and I just don't know about it."

The other ponies stared in awe at Laurel, mumbling and complimenting her. Laurel felt an odd mix of surprise and warmth inside of her.

 _They really think I'm amazing?_ Laurel thought, _All I'm doing is filling up a bottle._

"What's that?" Winter Gust called as a large gray thing appeared on the river.

Laurel stopped filling the bottle and frowned at it knowing it looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"It's probably Deadly Sin and his forces! ATTACK!" Shining Armor called.

"No, wait!" Laurel cried, putting her hoof out to stop everypony, "Is that?!"

The gray thing got closer, and Laurel recognized the ship, from its shape and design to the designs on the side of the hull.

"It's the head Romaneian battleship! It's Moon Jewel!" Laurel cried, beaming.

"We're saved!" Evergreen cried, and everypony cheered.

The boat pulled up on the shore of the lake, and a white alicorn that looked to be somewhere between Princess Cadence's and Princess Luna's ages walked down the ramp, followed by two guard ponies.

Princess Moon Jewel had a silvery mane that shone in all the colors of the rainbow, and eyes and eyes that frequently changed color.

"Princess Moon Jewel," Laurel said politely, bowing.

Everypony bowed before her as well, and then stood when she nodded.

"Laurel Wreath, it is wonderful to see you again." Moon Jewel said through her thick Romaneian accent.

"And your friends, too." she added, smiling at Laurel's friends.

"Princess, thanking for coming to aid us on such short notice." Cadence said as she, Twilight, and Shining Armor stepped forward.

"Who are you all?" Moon Jewel.

"My name is Cadence, Princess of Love and The Crystal Empire. This is my husband, Shining Armor, Prince of The Crystal Empire and Captain of The Royal Guard, and my sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. We help rule Canterlot."

"Where are Princesses Celestia and Luna? I was told that they are in charge of your country." Moon Jewel asked.

"They were captured by Deadly Sin and his forces in the siege of Canterlot. We're leading this group of ponies." Twilight explained.

"I see. Well, it is an honor to meet you, your Highnesses. I am Moon Jewel, princess of Romaneia and the heart."

"Princess of the Heart?" Twilight asked.

Moon Jewel nodded and said, "I was born with a strange gift to see what is inside of a pony's heart simply by looking at them. It was how I was able to escape my country and the rebels before I it was too late. I sense you are a pony who is very loyal to your home and the ones you care about, but you afraid of letting ponies down or creating a disaster, hence your tendency to be a perfectionist."

"Moon Jewel…" Funny Bone mumbled, looking completely love stricken.

Moon Jewel giggled and said, "Funny Bone, I sense you have not changed a bit."

"On the other hoof, I sense you have undergone great change, Laurel." Moon Jewel said, turning to her.

She then frowned and said, "Why do I sense panic in all of you? Is there an emergency?"

"Yes. Deadly Sin knows where we are! He's coming after us. He could attack an any second! We need to flee to Romaneia!" Laurel cried anxiously.

"Won't this Deadly Sin monster follow us to my country? As much as I want to help you, I fear Romaneia is still too weak to have another war in our land." Moon Jewel said, frowning.

"Deadly Sin would turn to dust if he tried to follow us. The legend says he can't leave Equestria." Laurel explained.

Moon Jewel nodded and said, "Gather what you need, and we will sail for Romaneia immediately."

"Thank you, Princess." Everypony said, bowing before they ran off.

"Capitan!" Princess Moon Jewel called onto the boat. (Captain!)

"Da, Printesa?" the captain called back. (Yes, Princess?)

"A stabilit un curs pentru Romaneia, imediat!" Moon Jewel commanded. (Set a course for Romaneia, immediately!)

"De ce? Nu ne vor?" the captain asked. (Why? Do they not want us?)

"Dusmanul invadeaza! Treubie sa evacuam!" Moon Jewel cried. (The enemy is invading! We need to evacuate!)

The captain paled and responded, "Imediat, Inaltime!" (Right away, Your Highness!)

Moon Jewel helped everypony get their supplies on board, trying to not let the other ponies panic effect her.

As the ponies were beginning to get onboard, the sky started turning pitch black.

"Deadly Sin's here!" Pinkie Pie cried, scrambling onto the boat.

Everypony yelled, and began trampling each other to get on the boat.

Their mass panic overwhelmed Moon Jewel, and she froze, unable to say or do anything to help.

"EVERYPONY, PLEASE, CALM DOWN!" Princess Cadence cried, she and Princess Twilight flying over the group.

"You'll hurt yourselves rushing onto the boat like that! Speed up a bit, but walk _calmly._ You'll be fine. You have us to protect you." Princess Twilight said reassuringly.

Moon Jewel felt everypony's panic decrease slightly, to the point where she was able to move and speak again. She quickly gave everyone directions to the crew's quarters.

"Princess?" Captain Shining Armor asked once he was on board, carrying a foal, "Do you have a sick bay aboard the boat?"

"Of course we do. Why?" Moon Jewel asked.

"We have two injured ponies that need to be carried aboard the boat." Captain Shining Armor explained.

"I see. Yes, you can bring those ponies to the sick bay at once, Captain." Moon Jewel said.

"Thank you, Your Highness. Also, please call me Shining Armor." Shining Armor requested as he bowed and then ran off the boat.

"Also, Your Highness," a new voice said behind her.

Moon Jewel yelped as she turned and saw a creature that appeared to be made of many different animals.

The beast pointed to a large bottle sitting on the edge of the lake, and asked, "Will you be able to fit that aboard your boat?"

"Our boat would be strong enough to carry it, but not big enough. Is there anyway you could shrink it down?" Moon Jewel asked.

The creature snapped his fingers, and the large bottle shrank into crates of water bottles.

"That's much better, thank you." Moon Jewel said, using her magic to lift them on board.

"Are you okay, Your Highness? You look startled." the creature noted.

"Yes, I've just never seen anything like you before. Are you a animagus?" Moon Jewel asked.

"No, ma'am. I am a draconequus. My name is Discord." the creature said, bowing.

Explosions suddenly burst against the ground starting fires where they landed.

"They're getting closer! Shining Armor needs to hurry if we're going to make it!" Moon Jewel cried, sensing fear coming from three ponies on the shore.

"SHINING!" Cadence cried.

"SILVER!" Snowflake yelled.

"SUNSET!" Twilight cried.

"Printesa!" a guard cried, galloping up to Moon Jewel, "We...sail now."

"No! Wait!" Moon Jewel cried.

"Printesa, we...boom if stay!" the guard cried.

"We can't leave! We still have 3 ponies on shore! They'll die if we leave. Tell the captain to wait just a bit longer!" Moon Jewel cried.

The guard didn't understand, so she repeated her order in Romaneian, and the guard nodded and ran off.

"They must hurry." Moon Jewel said to Princess Twilight, "I don't know how much longer I can make my crew wait."

 _C'mon, Shining! Please!_ Twilight pleaded inside her head.

Out from the smoke on the shore, Shining Armor suddenly appeared, carrying Sunset Shimmer with his magic, while Silver limped behind him.

"Shining, _hurry!"_ Twilight cried.

Shining Armor galloped on board the boat carrying Sunset, while Silver weakly flew onto the deck.

"Where's the sick bay?" Shining wheezed.

"Down these stairs, take a left at the first hallway, and then a right, and then it'll be straight ahead." Moon Jewel said.

Shining nodded and carried Sunset down the stairs while Silver, Snowflake, and Cadence ran behind them.

"MERGE!" Moon Jewel cried, her voice ringing throughout the ship. (GO!)

The crew ponies quickly lifted the ramp while the captain turned the boat around in the lake.

The ponies stumbled as the boat suddenly shot forward, racing down the river. The darkness began following them, though, making Twilight gulp.

Laurel fired a magical beam at the darkness, but it had no effect as the hole she opened only sealed itself as the darkness kept advancing.

"Are we going to make it?" Laurel asked Moon Jewel, voicing what she was thinking.

Moon Jewel seemed paralyzed, her eyes wide with fear. The only sign that she was still alive was her ragged breathing.

"MOON JEWEL, YOU CAN'T CLOCK OUT ON US NOW!" Laurel yelled.

Moon Jewel snapped out of her fear-induced paralysis and responded, "I think so. We're going as fast as we can. We just need to wait a little bit longer until we reach 65.2 kilometers per hour."

"What happens then?" Rainbow Dash asked.

A bell rang throughout the ship, and Moon Jewel said, "You all need to get below decks. Hurry."

Twilight and her friends raced to the cabins below as the ship started bobbing up and down, until it finally started climb. They looked out the window to find giant mechanical wings protruding from the port and starboard sides of the ship, flapping in unison.

"This thing can _fly?!"_ Rainbow Dash cried, eyes wide.

"That's amazing!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"Did you know the ship could do this?" Twilight asked Laurel.

Laurel shook her head, looking stunned.

"It must be something new they added. It's amazing!" Laurel said as they flew over a waterfall.

The darkness kept following them into the sky forcing the captain to make evasive maneuvers which made the ponies feel queasy and Funny Bone vomit. When they got outside of the city, the darkness retreated, and everypony looked down at Fillydelphia below them, black clouds of smoke rising through the massive buildings.

Twilight swallowed back a sob, and prayed that the war would be over soon so they could save the ponies of Canterlot, Maneami, and Fillydelphia.

Hi, guys! Sorry I haven't been posting on this story much. I've been really busy these past few months, and I've been working on other writing projects like my Descendants fan fiction and my novel. I'm so sorry! Forgive me! :(


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